Have you prepared a hard copy of your genealogy research for your family?

[grasswire]

I am thinking of putting together a presentation to give to family members that can be an heirloom -- one copy for each cousin. It would have illustrations of coats of arms, copies of articles, the tree, written sketches of significant persons, etc.

I am wondering if any of you have put together something like this.

[applegrove]

1. I did all the work on a computer

Last edited Mon Mar 11, 2013, 04:26 AM - Edit history (2)

program and then I stopped. That program is out of date so I bought a newer version of the familytreemaker program. Now I have to transfer the information from the old program to the new one and I don‘t know if it will work. Plus if I do finish it and disseminate it to 200 family somebody will give all the information to ancestry.com. Then future & present generations will then have to pay for it in bits and pieces. So the family files will become something to be bought and sold when the information and love has always been shared freely. If I don‘t finish it this will not happen on my watch. Simply put, I feel I could be responsible for a mess that once done would continue on for eternity. Once you buy the familytreemaker program, and upload the information I organized and scribed, ancestry.com will pop up on your screen and ask innocuously if you want to share your information with others. A simple yes will hand it all over to ancestry.com and they then sell the information. Fifty people in my family could choose yes. And what a nightmare that would be for relatives because the family tree is huge with lots of documents and pictures. I suppose I should do some research as to what will actually happen and then look for advice from family. On the plus side family members who are not in direct contact with us would be able to pay to get information at ancestry.com

[grasswire]

2. wow, lots of aspects I have never considered!

I am far from being ready to put this together. Lots more research to do.

[applegrove]

4. I just reread a printout of text I input

Last edited Mon Mar 11, 2013, 04:21 AM - Edit history (1)

in each record in familytreemaker. As printouts go, it is completely disjointed because it was never meant to be read or collated in such a fashion. In the computer program each person is listed across from their spouse, with their children underneath. When you go into each individual person‘s record you have the option of seeing pictures (and all the scanned documents, letters on that person) or the text section. I input facts into each person‘s text section when I came across it in the four boxes of files I had on the family. I also put the information in as primary research with just the facts. The facts are not in chronological order. I assume that when people come to their close family members text section, they will add their own information and erase any facts that they are not interested in. Each fact is separated by a row of stars. I found some internet links on certain people and added those in as facts too. To get it proofread I printed the texts, which came out in alphabetical order by person. So what I printed out on paper doesn‘t resemble how the information will be presented on the familytreemaker program. It will be presented in context on the computer. I at times added editorialized notes to explain context of the fact or to suggest further research. This was always meant to be a narrative that was not written by me, but one that was held together by each person‘s relationships, important dates, assorted pictures and scanned letters, as well as the text I input made up of primary research facts. It is meant as a starting point for people‘s ancestral journeys to begin by turning the family records, and the work of previous family researchers, digital.

[JDPriestly]

3. A member of my family uses Ancestors.com

It's utterly useless to me because I'm not devoted enough to the topic to pay the monthly fees to Ancestors.com. I would like to know the history, but one family member paying for it is enough. I guess I'll never have access to it. Kind of sad but I'm not fanatical enough about it to pay for it.

[bluedave]

5. Nope

way too pretentious for me

[Little Star]

6. If I were your relative and received one of your presentations as a gift.....

I would think it was one of the best gifts I ever received! I would also appreciate all the time and energy that you put into such a personalized family heirloom. You would rock in my book!

I haven't done anything like that and don't think I have the talent to either. I'm having a hard time (think old computer illiterate women) trying to figure out how the heck to transfer all my information from my Ancestry.com account into my personal Family Tree Maker. I wonder where I can find someone who lives in my area that I could pay to do it for me. Any suggestions where I could look for such a person?

[grasswire]

9. I don't know anything about Family Tree Maker.

My sister uses it, but says she made a mistake early in the tree and hasn't been willing to go back and fix that mistake. Or maybe she just doesn't want to show anyone her work.

[csziggy]

14. Exporting your data from Ancestry is simple

Sign into Ancestry.com then go to the page for your family tree. Next to your tree name at the top it will say "tree pages" with a down arrow. Click that arrow, then in the drop down menu, click "Tree Settings". On that page on the right side is the option to export your tree as a GEDCOM file. I am not sure if this will export all the media that has been attached to people in Ancestry. I haven't tried using it that way.

As I research, I save copies of the media on my computer. I have a folder for each person and save their data in their folder. Each file, whether an image, pdf, or note, is named with the year/month/day then the country or state and county, then type of information (borth, wed, census, etc.). With the year first, the files are automatically sorted into the correct order for that person's life. That's why I haven't counted on the Ancestry export to get those files for me.

[Sherman A1]

7. I had planned to do so for Christmas

however, some family health issues came up, so the project is delayed. My plan is to use Ancestry, print everything out I can add photos and documents where possible and put it all in page protectors then into binders. It's for my Wife's brothers and her Father's family does not have a very long (her Mom's a bit more) or workable tree, so it's not going to be overly difficult. I will do what I can, hand it to them and then it's theirs to do what they wish.

Granted what I have done online with Ancestry will not be online accessible without them paying in the future I suppose, but it does provide me with a format in which I can work and since I am doing the work..... well, there ya go.

[grasswire]

8. well if we print out everything relevant, then maybe it doesn't matter....

....if ancestry.com is eventually behind a pay wall. I think it's important (for me) to get everything I can out of research but have hard copy to pass on to others. Who even knows if ancestry.com will exist in a couple of decades?

[yellerpup]

10. I included our family genealogy

in the novel I wrote, thinking that everyone would be as excited as I was to discover our NA roots going back to 1640 and following it not to the present, but to the gg-grandparents. Unfortunately, the first person in the family to read it felt is was disrespectful and were upset with the truth about our roots. They have boycotted it. They don't want to believe me. I put in years of work on this project and to say I was disappointed in their response is an understatement. I was heartbroken.

[grasswire]

11. sorry to hear about that, pup

I always think that everyone is as interested in genealogy as I am, and have been disappointed now and then too. When the History Channel recently started its new series on the Vikings, I posted info about our illustrious and scary Viking ancestors to our private facebook group for cousins. Not one person commented. I know that none of them knew about our Viking ancestors previously. Perhaps they were astonished at having pagan ancestors. Dunno.

[yellerpup]

12. I'd be excited to have Vikings

in my family tree. Since some of the originators of the line come from Scotland, it's not out of the question. I know the resistance comes from the discovery of what Black Dutch means. I celebrate my ancestors, but it seems my relatives are of a different mind. The disconnect is that it means everything to me and they don't wanna know about it. Everyone has pagan ancestors if you go far back enough in time, everyone loves someone who is gay whether they know it or not, and life goes on. I have never heard of anyone being ashamed of Viking roots, though. That is a real head scratcher.

[RILib]

34. tell us about your Viking ancestors. I ran out of data in the 1700s.

How did you get back that far?

[No Vested Interest]

23. Some info can be tricky

because you don't know how it will be received by various family members.
I have info about some nearer-in-time relatives that I'm not informing their children or grandchildren, because I don't know how it will be received. If those living should bring it up, I'll share what I know, but won't initiate it.

Ex. I happen to know (and have proof) of an early (teenage) marriage of one of my aunts; it must have been short-lived for she is shown in a census as "D" - divorced. She had one son by a later marriage. I have no idea if he is aware of the first marriage - I think perhaps not, but I'm not going to be the one to tell him, unless he should bring it up.

I also discovered through the internet that there is likely a NA ancestor on my maternal Fr-Canadian side. I happen to think that's nifty, and apparently my living extended family has no problem with it. Neither my mother nor any of her family ever mentioned that. I don't know if they knew, but if they did, they may have been reflective of a past generation that wanted to appear all-Caucasian and wouldn't want any other possibilities considered.

[yellerpup]

25. There were plenty of good reasons not to admit

to having NA relatives around the turn of the last century. NA's didn't get to vote until 1926 (although won the right to vote in 1924, the first opportunity to vote was in '26) and because enfranchisement was left to the states, the last NAs to vote were in Utah in 1960. And that's just one little 'for instance' why many families suppressed the truth about their ancestors. Life was easier if you could pass for white. I don't talk to my family about the genealogy any more and they never bring it up. I don't mind. Knowing what I know and knowing who I am delights me. As far as my family is concerned I will remain that light in the closet that doesn't go off automatically when the door is closed. Thanks for sharing your insights.

[CountAllVotes]

29. that is not a surprise yellerpup

Not one bit. Some people don't want to face the reality of WHO they really are.

You'd think people be delighted to find out about their Indian ancestry. Often, they are not and denial is the way they go, even today!

I suppose this is why I don't write my own stuff up in a book.

It could be interesting perhaps, but to exactly who I am unsure of.

Nice to see you btw!!

[yellerpup]

31. Hi, CAV!

Good to see you, too! I just posted a photo of my new kittehs in the Pets forum, and I know you like kittehs....

My family was fine with the NA ancestry. My father was the only hold out on that, the problem is that "some" of the great-grandparents made it their life's mission to pass for white. They aren't kicking over the European strains, or native strains--the African strains (which, for my money, are American strains at this point) are the ones that give them trouble. As my sister-in-law put it, "You just can't make people believe something they don't want to believe." That's right, they're all Republicans.

[CountAllVotes]

32. Oh I love kittehs

You know that!

My kitty is lonely now. One day I was on my desktop and a picture of a basket of kittehs went by and she licked the face of one.

The other day, I was messing around with an old laptop I have. The background has a picture of the late Old Kitty and Flame on it. She saw that too and she began purring really loud and rubbing her head against the laptop!

So, maybe I'll be getting a kitteh for her if one should come along. Kitteh season is right around the corner!

As for your ancestry, I am in the same boat ... denial denial denial when it comes to the Indian blood. Why I'll never know and I agree with you re: African blood. African Americans are old Americans!!

I'm still making much progress anyway despite what folks may think.

Nice to see you again yellerpup and don't let 'em get you down!

I can't and won't!!

and take care!!!

[csziggy]

13. My Mom put together her research for her side of the family in 1969

And then put together my father's mother's research on that side of the family. Each 'book' was pasted together on legal size paper then their lawyer's office ran off copies for each of us kids. She used legal size binders to put the pages together.

My mother in law was involved with printing her family compilation to a hard cover book. That was very expensive. She and the man she worked with basically had to pre-sell a certain number of copies and then had to have a minimum number of books printed - around 250 books at $50 each, if I remember correctly.

A couple of years ago I re-edited the books into electronic format. I rescanned the photographs and the clippings and reformatted the pages for regular size paper in WordPerfect. I published groups of pages to PDF, then took those PDFs on a thumbdrive to FedEx, rented one of their computers for an hour and assembled all the PDFs into one PDF for each book.

I had those PDFs printed into three hard copies of each book and had them spiral bound with plastic covers. Those six copies cost about $20 each. For my own use I've printed copies of the books on my home printers, punched holes, and just put them into presentation binders. They look nearly as nice as the professionally printed ones. A cheap laser printer worked great for my black and white books.

I also saved the completed books as PDF files with the printing instructions I wrote to give to the copy shop. Now for family members who want a copy, I send them a ZIP file with the PDF, the instructions and some oversize pages that can be put in as fold out fan charts. Most of the younger family members are just as happy to have the books in electronic format.

Since then I have done a lot more research and added a lot to the genealogy on both sides. My primary program for keeping my information is The Master Genealogist (TMG). There are several third party programs that can take the files from TMG or other genealogy programs and create web pages. Most can do incremental updates as you add information to your family information.

I like Second Site - it's not expensive and the publisher also offers a cheap webhosting plan for publishing your family data. I don't use their plan - I already have my own domain and webspace. If you have your own space, it's easy to publish your family site - just create it with the program on your computer, then copy those files to the webspace. You can also publish your information to a CD or DVD and make copies to share with family.

A free way to create a web site from any genealogy program is UncleGED. Nearly all genealogy programs have the ability to export your files to a GED (Genealogy Export Data, I think) file to share with others - and to transport your information to other programs. Uncle GED will use the same GED file to create HTML pages for a site. It's not as pretty a product but for free, it gets the information where you can share it.

I tested UncleGED before I bought SecondSite. It's really not bad at all and if you learn a little about creating a web site, you can make the pages prettier. It will not automatically add links to pictures or documents but that is easy to learn to create, just time consuming.

SecondSite will add media that has been added in the TMG program so photos, census pages, deeds, and other documents that have been collected can be accessed from links from the individual person's page. I'm still accumulating information and don't have all my media in TMG so I haven't tested all the aspects of SecondSite. I have seen a number of very nice genealogy websites that were created with it, though.

You do NOT have to put the information you have in Family Tree Maker on Ancestry in order to share it - there are lots of options. And you can always export your data out of Family Tree Maker with a GED file and import into other programs if you want to get away from the Ancestry control.

I have FTM - I use it as an easy way to check for information on Ancestry, which I do use regularly for my research. But there are a lot of the features of FTM I hate so I take all my info back to TMG for final input.

[grasswire]

15. so much good info here!

Thanks for jotting it all down. I had thought about spiral bound books for the preparation. But it would be cool if pages could be added or replaced in the event of more information so I also have considered loose leaf.

A problem arises in where to draw the line on the scope of the project! I am only researching direct lines with no collateral lines, and see that it's way too big to take this back as far as the lines will go -- sometimes to BCE.

[csziggy]

16. If you wait until you "finish" your research, you'll never get around to sharing it

That's why I simply re-edited Mom's books. Mom and Dad's mother both only cared about getting Patriots for DAR, so for most families they didn't go farther back than those ancestors. My MIL only went back to when people came over to North America. I'm going back as far as I can conveniently research online. I'm lucky though that they have gotten as far they they have - it puts me generations ahead (behind?) of most people who are doing genealogy.

I've been working through the family lines systematically and seeing what I can add to what they had. When I finish that "first pass" I'll pick the lines that are most interesting to try to track down. When MIL all her research in January, she gave me a dozen or so notebooks with the info on her brick wall lines - that will make it easy to see what she's already eliminated and what she thinks is worth following up.

But I know some of the nieces and nephews are interested, so I need to start getting info online for them. That's why the idea of setting up a website is taking hold. I was close last year before my knee replacements. Now that I am literally back on my feet, I need to get back on that project. Between my family and my husband's I have over 20,000 people in my database. Talk about getting too big!

I'm traditionalist enough to want a hard copy - who knows what might happen in the future. Paper has stood the test of time for the most part, so making paper copies are well worth it. Loose leaf notebooks get unwieldy very fast, unless you limit them to one family or even one generation - then you end up with lots of notebooks. I printed hard copies for my mother and with 3" notebooks, I ended up with at least one of those huge things for each of Mom's grandparents' branches! MIL put her stuff into packet folders, one for each major branch, then subdivided those branches as they got too much. She gave me eight boxes of material filled with those folders!

A alternative possibility is comb bound books - that's the books with the plastic backing with "fingers" that go through rectangular holes in the pages. You can actually buy the device that punches the pages and puts the comb binding through them for not a whole lot (at Officedepot.com they run from under $75 up). It's really easy to pull the comb out, so with your own machine, you can add new pages and rebind the book easily. (My husband works at a place that does printing, so I just have him take stuff to work, but it's not unreasonable to do it at home anymore. My parents have a comb binding machine - I may see if they will let me have it the next time I visit them)

Good laser printers that can duplex - print both sides of pages automatically - are no longer that expensive, especially if you watch for sales - around $150 is a good price to look for. I prefer HP or Brother lasers. Being able to easily print both sides will not only save you money, it will make your books a more manageable size.

The nice thing about the comb bound books is that they look nice and professional - and with a label printer you can add information on the spine of larger ones.

[grasswire]

17. are you doing collateral lines?

I don't think I have a huge interest in that. I figure that anyone interested in the uncles, cousins, yada can always find that out using the direct ancestors to start.

Although if I come across a very significant collateral figure it would be fun to include him/her with notation.

One of those has led me to something interesting. My 6th gr uncle was a "joiner" in a family of wheelwrights, carpenters, and woodworkers. A chest made by him in the 1600s was sold to the Metropolitan Museum in NYC in this century for 2.5 million dollars. Interestingly enough, his descendants in my line in the 19th, 20th and 21st century are also woodworkers of one type or another. I stand to inherit three pieces of furniture my great-grandfather made in CT in the 1800s. I have no illusions about them being museum pieces, but it's so cool to know about the heritage.

So I will include that collateral somewhere.

[csziggy]

18. I do some - it's been necessary

Many of my family lines traveled with groups and cousins - first, second or third - ended up marrying. So keeping track of some of the collateral lines is needed to sort some of the people out. It gets complicated the way some of these families interweave over the generations.

Other collateral lines are interesting. For instance, Josiah Harlan is a distant cousin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_Harlan I knew he had to be related, so I looked up the exact line. The Harlans are easy, though - there have been books written about the family and Mom has copies. Another collateral is Sir Francis Drake - one of my ancestors was reputed to be descended from him, but Sir Francis never had children. My sister did the research and found evidence that we're descended from one of his brothers, if I remember correctly.

Another was a woman named Laodiciea "Dicey" Langston:

On another occasion, the Bloody Scouts broke into their home and threatened to kill all the Langston men. Only her father was present. He had been crippled during the war and wasn’t able to defend himself as well as he once could have. The Bloody Scouts held him at gunpoint and she stepped in front of her father, shielding him with her own body. She told them they would have to kill her first. One of the Bloody Scouts was so impressed with her bravery, that he stopped the assault and kept the others from killing Dicey or her father.
http://www.diceylangston.com/

I'm descended from Dicey's father but I sort of wish I were descended from her!

I do keep track of the children of ancestors' brothers and sister, though usually I leave it at that unless there is some indication they could lead to a connection.

That is so cool about the chest in the Metropolitan! And it is so true about professions running in families. Our family lines have had doctors, engineers and farmers. My husband's family runs to artists and attorneys. The same professions show up over and over.

[grasswire]

19. genealogy research is the antidote to boredom!

I told my sis that any time she thinks her life is dull, it's time to delve into the lives of those who went before. Lordy, lordy, the things I've learned!

[csziggy]

20. Genealogy is better entertainment than soap operas!

And has more twists and turns very often.

One of my favorites was the guy who gave land for a Quaker Meeting House. Not long after, one of his younger sons asked for permission to marry and was granted it by the Monthly Meeting. Seven months later when the son's first child was born, the son and his wife were thrown out of the meeting! It wasn't until something like 18 years later when they were allowed back in good standing. Think of how embarrassing that must have been for the father!

I also learn a lot of history from genealogy - and it means more with that personal connection.

[grasswire]

22. There's an interesting one in my fam in 1600s Massachusetts.

My ancestor was accused of attempted rape. Turns out that during King Phillip's war some militia were billoted in local homes, and some homes were more Puritan than others. This relative, a Lieutenant, was said to have smoked tobacco with a girl, and she sat on his lap. He was acquitted of the accusation.

[CountAllVotes]

24. My cousin did this for my mother's side of the family

A family I never knew, what a great surprise.

As for my father, I could do it but, I'm not sure I ever will.

Seems no one is much interested in my research of 15++ years at all really.

Oh well ...

[No Vested Interest]

26. Many are not interested at this time

Perhaps they're too young and too busy with on-going life to give family history any thought.
Certainly I didn't have enough time or insight at a younger age to ask the questions I now wish I had asked.

But I have the hope that an interest may develop at a later age, or that a grandchild or niece or nephew will at some point want this information.

[CountAllVotes]

27. the info. I have is really priceless

It is to me anyway. It is up there on ancestry.com if any one wants it, a lot of it is there.

So, it is "available" so to speak.

A niece was interested and thought I had a single "link" to it all which I do not have.

When I told her it involved at least 20 years of research, there were many boxes and books, etc., no reply.

Finding lots of people these days, families looking for relatives here in the USA from the Great Famine recently found me. Seems they are still there in Co. Kilkenny and I was contacted before Xmas!

[No Vested Interest]

28. I have not done well in locating the locations, etc. of my Irish

ancestors.
The surname is the the second most common in Ireland, and the first name is Patrick(!) - sort of like trying to find the precise Joe Jones in the U.S.
And we all know the families were prolific, using the first names over and over among the lateral generations.

Congratulations on finding family "across the pond."

[CountAllVotes]

30. Griffith's Valuation of Ireland

That "census" that was published about 10 years ago has some people in it that are indeed still in those same locations today. That was the case with the family in Kilkenny that contacted me.

However, I know of a person from Ireland whose whole family still lives there, has been there for hundreds of years and they are not on that "census".

It is a tool and that is all; may help, may not help.

Re: Locations: If you can find an obit. of someone that was here c. 1900 or so it tends to say where they were from (County, Parish if very lucky). That is how I found many of mine, it said where they were from in Ireland.

I found lots of these people I speak of above here:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

This is not fast job though. It took me years to figure it out.

Best of luck with your research.

[RILib]

33. Yes, really, really do this.

Otherwise you just have a jumble of stuff whose context will vanish in a generation or sooner.

I use my scanner and printer picture adjustment software. I made charts with Genpro.