WOW!  I didn't realize how long I've been away from my blog.  There is a lot going on in the genealogy world.  Several organizations have posted their webinar schedules for 2015, Thomas MacEntee is sponsoring a "Genealogy Do Over" and then there is FGS2015/RootsTech2015.  While I haven't been writing lately, I have been planning!

FGS2015 and RootsTech will require a different kind of planning that the "Do Over".  I will be in Salt Lake City for a week and plan to spend some time in the Family History Library, so I have been reading all the tips and hints that generous facebook friends have been posting.  To prepare for my visit, I have selected two brick walls to explore in the Swedish records and an area of Ireland for exploration.  The Swedish records will perhaps help with my husbands ancestors while the Irish records may help me with my maternal grandparents.

For the "Genealogy Do Over" I will be taking a modified approach.  I will not be starting totally over, but will be reviewing each of my family files and making sure that citations are included for all documented facts.  As I review, I will be creating a "To Do" list for each line.  I will also be making note of documents to obtain.  The pdf spreadsheet created by Thomas MacEntee will be of help in keeping track of my progress and I may also be able to put Evernote to use.  As part of my "Do Over" I am going to try to stay on track and not go off to follow that new hint.

FGS2015 Connect Explore Refresh! FGS and Roots Tech working together

It will happen in February!  Picture this, genealogists from around the world mixing with techies from around the world in one place at the same time.  After reading facebook posts about RootsTech for several years I intended to go.  Being held in Salt Lake City meant that I could also achieve another goal: going to the Family History Library.

I was so determined to go to FGS2015 that I reserved a hotel room in Salt Lake City as soon as the dates were announced.  Almost a year ahead of time.  I hadn't been to my first FGS conference yet.

Last August I attended FGS2014 and wrote about my experiences each day.  It was so exciting to CONNECT with other genealogy friends, some of whom I only knew from their blogs and facebook postings.  I had also volunteered to help at FGS2014 and that introduced me to other lovers of genealogy.

When I go to a conference I try to select sessions that will add to my knowledge base but it is also fun to listen to a favorite speaker.  Usually the night before I will sit down with the list of presentations and pick a first and second choice for each time slot.  I don't stay within a certain track because it is fun to EXPLORE all of the aspects of genealogy!  You never know when that little tip you heard will come in handy.

After any conference I come home REFRESHED and ready to dig back into those ancestors and maybe solve a brick wall with some of my new ideas.  Maybe it's something new like looking for a second page of a ship's manifest or an alternate way of tracking down information.

I'm excited to be a FGS2015 attendee and blogger!  I don't know yet how it will all work but I know it WILL work.  Got my room and registration so all that's left is my airfare.  It's gotta be good to get this south Texas gal to go to Utah in February.

The Final Day - FGS2014

Since this was the final day of the conference, I started the day at the 8:30 with Craig Roberts Scott and his presentation of "Epidemics and Pandemics: Their Impact on our Research". Craig defined the differences between epidemic and pandemic and explained why we should consider these when people disappear from records for no apparent reason.  Knowing when and where these happened may shed some light on our brick walls.  You can Google for epidemics as well as check the CDC, National Archives Application Guide to Federal Records and Hooper's Medical Dictionary.  Craig is very knowledgeable and opened up a new area of research to me,

Craig Roberts Scott

Following Craig's I kept my seat in the same lecture room to listen to Amy Johnson Crow explain "Timelines: The Swiss Army Knife of Genealogical Tools.  Amy explained that using a database spreadsheet like Excel or the spreadsheet format in Google Drive allows more flexible sorting than the timesheet lists found in most genealogy software programs.  Dates should be entered as yyyy/mm/dd for maximum sorting capability.  With timelines you can more easily spot holes in your research.  Entering all the details you know may help to suggest areas for further research.

Amy Johnson Crowe

Following Amy's talk it was time for the lunch break.  I chose a box lunch with a beef, ham or turkey with cheese sandwich with chips, cookie, fruit and ice cold water.  With 2 different speakers to choose from, I attended the session with the presentation "From Texas With Love: Six Points for Spicing Up Your Family Stories"  presented by Juliana Szucs Smith and sponsored by the Genealogical Speakers Guild and International Society of Family History Writers.  Unfortunately I had to leave shortly after Juliana began speaking.  I had a vouluteer commitment at the Exhibit Hall.  I enjoyed what I heard and that it was very good by someone who was able to attend the entire luncheon.

Lisa Louise Cooke

Because of the timing of my Exhibit Hall the next session I attended was the 3:00 lecture with Lisa Louise Cooke on "Tap Into Your Inner Private Eye: Eight Strategies You Need To Find Living Relatives".  Lisa gave inside tips she learned in talking with Private Detectives she has visited with and explained the methods she used to find her husbands first cousin in an effort to learn more about her husband's father and grandfather.  Among other search engines she used Pipl, Spokeo, and Dogpile.  Don't forget social media as a finding aid.

The last session to the conference that I attended was with Thomas W Jones and
was about "Genealogical Documentation: The What, Why, Where, and How"  using examples of correct citations, Tom illustrated the creation of a correct and complete citation and also showed a simplified version of citing sources both digital and physical.

Thomas W Jones

Sigh - and now it is over!  Four days of awesome!  Thank you FGS and SAGHS for a great experience:  FGS2014!

Gone to Texas - FGS2014 Day 3

Today was the halfway point and the beginning of the end.  There are just too many choices and too little time!  Every day there are 42 speaker sessions and 4 workshops.  There are also 8 presentations in the Exhibit hall and 4 different luncheons with speakers!  How does one even begin to choose where to go.  The luncheons and Workshops are chosen at the time of registration but the rest you can pick and choose on a daily basis.

Today I got there early to catch Tom Jones speak on "Can a Complex Problem Be Solved Solely On Line"  Using a case study Tom showed how online records could be used to establish parentage and marriage but ti fill in all the details you would need to use some off line records.  In determining parentage one tip was to search the census before the birth to see if there was a likely family then.  George Edison was born in 1861 so the idea is to search the 1860 census in the reported birth place to see if there is a likely family there.  He also suggested to note place of birth and occupation. So the answer is Yes...But!

Elizabeth Shown Mills

Tom Jones

Next I attended Elizabeth Shown Mills session on "Sources and Citations Simplified: from memorabilia to Digital Data to DNA".  Elizabeth said that while the genealogy vendors have gotten the message about creating source citation templates, they haven't attached them to the family group sheets and we need to keep on the vendors about attaching source citations to the family group sheets even as a second page.  She commented that most people have a difficult time selecting a template.  To that end she said "look at what you are holding" is it a book, microfilm, a family heirloom?  That will help you determine the correct template and remember that a website is a publication.  We use citations to keep ourselves straight.

At lunchtime I attended the luncheon sponsored by the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History (ISBG&FH).  Paul Milner spoke about "The Messages our Ancestors Leave Behind" His talk covered the necessity of writing the stories of our ancestors and including the details of there lives to preserve the details of their lives.  His mantra of the talk was "But they never told me!"  At the end of his talk there was a drawing for a subscription to the ISBG&FH website and the the winner was Cyndi of CyndisList.

Cyndi and I

The last session I attended was "Guardianship: Look Closer at the Documents" with Cindy Foreman.  Cindy eaplained what the Guardianship documents are, why they might have been created, and where to find them.  Census records often reveal if someone in the household was blind, deaf. insane,  Guardianship might have been established for orphans, or others needing some kind of protection.  Even a widow under the age of 21 may have a guardian.  The guardian appointed usually had no financial interest in the case and was required to file an annual report.  Look to the probate files at the county level for guardianship levels.

Cindy Foreman

Finally I ended the day by working at the hospitality booth which mostly involved giving directions to the Exhibit Hall and manning the Lost and Found.

FGS2014 - Day 2

Day 2 at the FGS conference began, for me,with the opening of the exhibit hall at 9:30.  I was on the second floor when it opened so I got an overhead shop of a small part of the hall.  There are a total of 87 booths in the hall ranging from Socities to bookshops to tech and internet vendors.  There are also 2 presentation stages in the hall with scheduled presenters.  The exhibit hall is open to anyone without charge and there are some nifty giveaways.  Dell Computers had 2 gb memory sticks or thumb drives and the FGS booth had an awesome pen that is also a stylus!  And of course the ribbons.  Ribbons are the currency of a genealogy conference.

Since I volunteered to work at the conference, I didn't go to any morning sessions.  Instead from 10:15 to 2:30 I sat at the ribbons table and passed out ribbons to those who were picking up their registration packets.  Everyone got the "I'm Connected" ribbon and those who were attending a FGS conference for the first time got a neon "First Time Attendee" ribbon.  We also had "War of 1812 Pension Preserver" ribbon for those who donated to the Preserve the Pensions drive.

After my shift was over, I wandered back to the exhibit hall and checked out some more booths.  I did run into several facebook genea friends and saw several members of my local genealogy group Schertz Cibolo Valley Area Genealogists.  Then it was time to head for the last two sessions of the day.

At 3:00 I went to the "Dead Men Talking: Using Probate and Estates to Solve Problems", part of the Records/Resources track, with Teri E Flack.  Teri spoke about how the probate process works and showed how it can be used to solve problems and determine relationships.  This would be especially useful with finding connections in the years before the 1850 census when relationships were not noted on the census returns.


At 4:30 it was time to visit the Methodology track and Judy G Russell.  Hew presentation "A Family for Isabella: Indirect Evidence from Texas Back to Mississippi" began by showing how evidence can be either Direct or Indirect depending on the question asked.  Then we saw using a combination of both types of evidence was used in a reasonably exhaustively search to find Isabella's family in records prior to 1840.  Even Isabella's children's death records were used in the search!

At 5:30 it was time to head back to the hotel for dinner and an adult beverage.

Tomorrow I will attend 2 morning sessions as well as a lunch presentation.  More fun to come!

FGS2014 - Society Day

I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted but life has been busy and I guess I've been a little busy.  Both life and genealogy have gotten in the way of blogging.

The Federation of Genealogy Societies Convention in San Antonio began yesterday with Library Day.  I did not attend but I have only heard positive responses to the presentations.

Today was Society Day and I missed the morning sessions arriving at lunch time.  Over lunch in the Bridge area, I caught up with Thomas MacEntee and Smallest Leaf.  There was a small concession stand with a variety of sandwiches, drinks, and snacks.  The bridge divides the two sides of the Henry B Gonzales Convention Center divides the two side of the Center with each side having 3 floors of meeting rooms.  With windows on each side and overhead skylights the area is open and bright.  Today it didn't seem very crowded but it was Society Day and there was a Focus on Societies luncheon and the luncheon also included the FGS Annual Business Meeting and Society Shout-Out.

After lunch it was time to choose the first of three afternoon sessions that were available.  The sessions followed six tracks:  Strategic Planning, Society Technology, Outreach and Education, Strategies for Success, Society Projects, and Advocacy and Legal Issues.

I chose the Society Projects "Creating a Community Indexing Projects" presented by Thomas MacEntee.  Thomas described the types of projects that would be suitable as well as scanning methods, using Excel and Google Drive for capturing data and how to share the completed project.

For the next session I attended the Society Technology presentation by Linda Woodward Geiger "Calling All Society Webmasters: Past, Present, and Future.  This was a very interactive session with lots of questions and responses.  Members of the audience all had different levels of experience.  We discussed the advantage of having a technical person and several editors or content providers.Another topic discussed was service providers and why own a domain name.

For the final session, I selected the Outreach & Education track and "Ten Tips for Marketing Your Society" with Marian Pierre-Smith.  One tip Marian pointed out that any marketing approach should reflect the mission of the Society.  The types of mission might be to reach members, to recruit members, and to become mote visible to the community.  Another suggestion was to consider working with another group in a combined workshop or seminar.

All three of the sessions were very well done and provied tons of inspiration to take back to our group.

I had dinner with five lovely women from  Texas and learned a lot about the DTR (Daughters of the Texas Republic).

Now it's time to select tomorrow's sessions and charge the electronics.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun- Play Ahnentafel Roulette

Thanks Randy for more fun!

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!): 

1) What year was one of your great-grandfathers born?  Divide this number by 80 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel" - your software will create this - use the "Ahnentafel List" option, or similar). Who is that person, and what are his/her vital information?

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook status or a Google Stream post, or as a comment on this blog post.

5) NOTE:  If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then "spin" the wheel again - pick a great-grandmother, a grandfather, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, yourself, or even your children!  Or pick an ancestor!

My Great-grandfather Johannes Adolf Waldemar Hansen was born 4 Oct 1852.  Dividing 1852 by 80 yields 23.  The person with the ahnentafel number of 23 is Elisabetha Kronenberger.  

Three facts about Elisabetha Kronenberger are:
   1 She was born in Germany in 1832 and emigrated to Milwaukee, WI.
   2 Elisabetha's parents were Heinrich Kronenberger (1800-1871) and Margaretha Mary Bott                      (1802-1886)
   3 Elisabetha married Philip Schmitz (1834-1906) and had four children with him.  Their children                    were  Philip b 1856, Eva b 1858, Peter b 1866, Elizabeth b 1869 and Georg b 1872.

Bonus fact 4 - Elisabetha Kronenburg is my great-great-grandmother and her granddaughter married the son of Joannes Adolf Waldemar Hansen!
   

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Your Father's Mother's Patrilineal Line

This is last week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Challenge Randy Seaver has issued another challenge I'll take this one. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Your Father's Mother's Patrilineal Line Posted: 05 Jul 2014 12:38 PM PDT Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:   It's Saturday Night again -  time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!): 1) What was your father's mother's name? 2) What is your father's mother's patrilineal line? That is, her father's father's father's ... back to the most distant male ancestor in that line? 3) Can you identify male sibling(s) of your father's mother, and any living male descendants from those male sibling(s)? If so, you have a candidate to do a Y-DNA test on that  patrilineal line. If not, you may have to find male siblings, and their descendants, of the next generation back, or even further. 4)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, or in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook or Google Plus post. Henrietta Burbach Hansen about 40 My father was Donald George Hansen (1910 - 1959) His mother was Henrietta(Burbach) Hansen (1888 - 1960) She was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Hermann Burbach and Eva (Schmitz) Burbach. Her patrilineal line is: 1 Herman Burbach (1852 - 1896) married to Eva Schmitz (1858 - 1932) 2 Georg Burbach (1825 - 1897) married to Catherina Caspari (1825 - 1913) 3 Hubertus Burbach (b 1798) married to Catharina Schaf (1798 - 1834) 4 Wilhelm Burbach (1764 - 1819) married to Catherina Gros (1763 - 1800) 5 Johan Jacob Burbach ( 1713 - 1782) married Helena Mueller (1734 - 1775) Henrietta and her siblings were first generation Americans.  She had four brothers: George, Peter, John, and Charles. George had sons Henry(1912) married and had a son Anthony  and Lawrence( 1917) Peter had sons Herman (1908-1970) had James(1934) had Randall Charles had Jamie  John (1909-1999), Charles (1912-1958), and Howard (1916-1998) John was drowned at the age of ten. Charles married but apparently had no children. Henrietta's father also had a brother Johan who also came to the United States and he had one son who survived childhood.  This is yet another candidate to research is the quest for a YDNA match.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -.Summer Vacations: "The Cottage" at Long Beach, Indiana

Summer Vacations 

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - In the Summertime!

Randy says 
Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):
1) It's the first day of Summer 2014, so let's talk about what we did as children (not teenagers or young adults) on our summer vacations from school.  
2)  Write about your life as a child in the summertime (say, any age between 5 and 12).  Where did you live, what did you do, how did it influence the rest of your life?
3)  Write your own blog post, or leave a comment on this post, or write something on Facebook or Google+
When I was in first grade, my family moved from Chicago to west suburban Elmhurst.  We had a large yard, front, back and side.  There were lots of kids in the neighborhood and summer evenings found us playing games like Red Light Green Light, Red Rover, Mother May I and Frozen Tag in the yard.  The whole neighborhood played but the rule was when the street lights go on it is time to go home.   When I visited my Oak Park cousins, they also had a large yard and lots of kids around so we played Fruit Basket Upset.   We played mostly with my cousins and their neighbors the Monacos.
During the day there were so many things to do that we were never bored.  The city park just one block away had free tennis lessons, free ballet lessons, and concerts under the stars. 

Elmhurst Public Library
google images

 The park also was the home of the city library which had a wonderful summer reading program.    The children's librarian was Mrs Zimmerman and she was always cheerful and kind.  The local elementary school (then called a grade school) would hold handicraft classes in the mornings where you could but a craft kit for $.10 to $1.00 and learn how to do it.  Some of the things we could do included lacing a comb holder or coin purse, some wood working, or painting.

When I got older we were allowed to ride our bikes across town to the other large city park where there was a pool that offered a summer pass in addition to swimming lessons.  Going to the pool meant that after lunch it was time to grab a swimsuit and roll it into a towel.  The rolled towel went into the bike basket.  Riding the bike across town to meet friends.  After we showed our season pool pass, we would head to the locker room.  There we would be issued a numbered basket which had a large metal, numbered pin on it.  The number on the pin matched the number on the basket.  After changing we would return the basket removing the pin and attaching the pin to our suit so we could reclaim our clothes and towel.  One year I actually took a Water Ballet class thinking I would become the next Esther Williams.
Rainy days my favorite thing to do was sit on the screened in front porch and listen to the rain and read my current book.  Some summer nights we would catch lightening bugs and put them in mason jars or peanut butter jars with air holes punched in the lids.  If we got enough it was a lantern!  
My children grew up in a smaller town but had many of the same summer activities in addition to little league.  It is amazing to see that the grands also do some of the same things.  There have been modifications over time of course but some things never change.

Randy says "It's time for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun"!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1) It's Father's Day in the USA on Sunday, so let's talk about our fathers.  

2)  What did your father really like to do in his work or spare time?  Did he have hobbies, or a workshop, or did he like sports, or reading, or watching TV?

3)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook or Google+ post.

Dad had a workshop in the basement.  It wasn't fancy but it had all his tools in it!  It used to be the coal room in the basement.  I don't remember him being crafty but he did finish the basement of our circa 1900 house by creating a recreation room and laundry room.  I think he did that out of love for his family.

Dad wrote doggerel or poems commemorating family events.  A child's birth, an illness, an achievement.  I believe he did this out of a love of words and as a way of expressing his emotions.  One of these poems is how I learned that one of my brothers was born with red hair.  I learned this after I had two redheaded children of my own.

Dad loved sports.  He played basketball for the YMCA in Chicago when he was in High School.  One year the team went to the state level.  I think he was about 17 then.  I know he got a gold basketball as an award.  I saw it in mom's jewelry box and think it may have been on her charm bracelet.  

Dad was the tall one in the center

Later he also was a football fan and also enjoyed horseback riding.  Dad didn't go to college but during that era of his live he followed college football.  Notre Dame was one of the teams he supported, even traveling on at least one occasion to Iowa for a game.  
At some point in time Dad became a horseback rider and took mom on a date riding.  Evidently they rode often enough that they had their own boots and jodhpurs  I remember finding them in a closet upstairs that also held mom's old cocktail dresses.  

.I also remember that dad was an avid Bears football fan and every year we would watch the pre-season Chicago College All Star game which pitted the NFL Champions against the All Star College players.  Dad and I always made a $.25 bet.  Usually he was NFL and I was pro All Stars.
One year we were at the beach and dad joined in a pick-up game of baseball on the beach and while sliding into base inadvertently  broke another players leg.  He felt so bad.  I think that pretty much ended his sports participation.

Sadly dad died at the age of 49 when I was a senior in high school so who knows what loves or hobbies he may have developed.

D Day - My Visit

As a genealogist I have also found it important to become familiar with history to understand the behavior of my ancestors.  It is also important to understand the history that happens during our lifetime.

Dave and I were fortunate to be able to travel to Germany frequently to visit our daughter and her family while they spent six years living there.  Usually we stayed with the kids for two to three weeks and did a weekend tour or two by bus with a group.  One of these tours was to Normandy, France and its beaches.

Dave had been a paratrooper during his military service and was a proud member of the 101st Airborne Division so the D Day invasion held a special fascination for him.

In the Spring of 2002, we boarded a bus in Sembach, Germany about 8:30 pm to travel through the night to Normandy.  Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the area and had some interesting insights into the War since his father had been a German soldier during the war.

I remember being on the beaches and seeing the fox holes which are still there.  Somehow that was a surprise to me.  Actually setting foot in such an historic site was mind boggeling.  As we wandered the beaches we could only imagine what the soldiers had experienced.  Dave was one of the many men of out group to capture a little of the sand in an empty film canister.

When we visited the American Cemetery I was in awe of the silence and respect shown by all of the visitors.  Children and teens were silent and the only sound was the magnificent carillon as it chimed the hour.  Another place we visited was the first French town liberated by the Americans and the place where the British gliders landed.

We did other things in Normandy of course but today I wish I had some Calvados so I could lift a glass to all those wonderful warriors.

Thursday Treasures - An E-mail from Norway

Last summer I received an e-mail from a direct descendant of my Great grandfather's second wife Nathalie Bull.  Anders de Lange ( a great-grandson of my great-grandfather Adolf Hansen) had found my blog about two years earlier and spoken to his grandmother Edit Hansen de Lange about my writings.  Since then we have corresponded several times.  In the e-mail last summer, Anders included a small ad from a Norwegian newspaper.

Thanks to Anders' translation, I know this is the announcement of the death of Einar Adolf, 8 weeks old.  Einar is the son of Dorette Hansen born Christensen and Adolf Hansen, Musician.  Einar is buried at Krist Kirkegaard (cemetery) in Oslo, Norway.

This was pure treasure as there was no indication of Einar's existence otherwise.  Anders also provided the death announcements for Dorette (my great-grandmother) and her also previously unknown daughter Aagot Dorette in 1887.  They are also buried at Krist Kirkegaard.

Getting this information allowed me to go back to the Norwegian Church records to verify the dates of birth, christening and death of the two children of Adolf and Dorette of which I had no previous knowledge.

Krist Kirkegaard, Oslo, Norway

Research Opportunities during FGS 2014

From the desk of 
Sandra Crowley

Here is some information about Research site in San Antonio during the conference and their hours. I'll try to send some information at least once a week on some of the workshops, presenters and special events. 

The San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society library will have extended hours during the conference. I've also attached a JPG of the library.

San Antonio Research Opportunities during FGS 2014

The Federation of Genealogical Societies 2014 Conference, “Gone to Texas,” will be held in San Antonio, August 27-30.  In addition to an extensive program that includes sessions on records, methodology and researching in Texas and neighboring states, you can take advantage of some of the research facilities in San Antonio. Here are two of the best:

·         Located on the 6th floor of the San Antonio Central Library, the Texana/Genealogy Department includes 65,000 microfilms, 77,000 books, 150 drawers of archival files, 75 map drawers, and 300 cu. ft. of archival collections. Visit this research facility at 600 Soledad St. in downtown San Antonio.

·         The San Antonio Genealogical & Historical Society Library, located at 911 Melissa Dr. in north-central San Antonio, houses a vast collection of books, periodicals, maps, vertical files, microfilm, and family history volumes for San Antonio, Bexar County, and all 50 states. The library will be open extended hours for research during the conference: Thurs., Aug. 28 10AM-9PM; Fri, Aug. 29 10AM-4PM; Sat., Aug. 30 10AM-6PM; Sun., Aug. 31 1PM-5PM.

FGS 2014 Conference

Save the dates!  August 27, 28, and 29 in San Antonio!

San Antonio River Walk

 

 

The countdown has begun for the 2014 Federation of Genealogy Societies Conference.  Just three months from today the doors will open on amazing opportunities for education.  Both Societies and individuals will benefit from a wide selection of topics and speakers.  Some of the many topics to be covered include DNA, Society Management and Growth, Maps, and Source Citation.

Here is the link to the brochure with all of the details and registration information. https://www.fgsconference.org/FGS2014_%20RegistrationBooklet_web.pdf
 Join us and spend some time on the River Walk while you improve your genealogy skills.


photo courtesy of google images

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How Many Cousins Do You Know You Have?

It's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun! 

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:1)  Take both sets of your grandparents and figure out how many first cousins you have, and how many first cousins removed (a child or grandchild of a first cousin) you have.

2)  Extra Credit:  Take all four sets of your great-grandparents and figure out how many second cousins you have, and how many second cousins removed you have.

HINT:  Make a Descendants Chart with your genealogy software program!

3)  Tell us the grandparents and great-grandparents names, but don't give the name of living cousins unless you want to.  

4)  Are there any of those lines that you don't know all of the cousins names?  Do you care?  
5)  Tell us about them in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook or Google+ post of your own.  Be sure to drop a comment to this post to link to your work. 

My grandparents Adolph and Henrietta (Burbach) Hansen had one son ( my father) and one daughter.  That daughter (Dorothy) married and had eight children.  My dad had 9 children therefore I have eight siblings and eight first cousins on my dad's side.  Dorothy's children provided her with forty-seven (I think) grandchildren which would be my first cousins once removed.

My grandparents Michael and Alice (Fleming) Connery had ten children, five of whom married and had children which yielded 14 first cousins and approximately 50 first cousins once removed.

I am going to skip the extra credit since all of my great-grandparents came from fairly large families and I don't have all of their stats yet.  I can provide this information:  Hermann and Eva (Schmitz) Burbach had six children, Johannes Adolf and Dorette (Kristensen) Hansen had seven children, Patrick and Mary (Leahy) Connery had ten children, and Thomas and Mary (Hennessy) Fleming had twelve children.

The final count at this time is 22 first cousins and 97 first cousins once removed!  I need to contact all of the first cousins for an up-date on their children and grandchildren.  I know there are also probably some great-grandchildren floating around.  My parents have 21 grandchildren and there are lots of great-grandchildren, I think the current count is 27 between the ages of 18 years and 6 months.

Book of Me Written by You - Week 29: What’s in my Purse?

This week’s prompt (Week 29) is – What’s in your bag/pocket?

Do you routinely carry a bag or holdall?
What do you carry?
Why do you carry it?
What do you carry it in?
Do you carry differently things on specific days or to specific places?

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I have carried a purse since grade school.  Sometimes it is a clutch, sometimes it is a handbag, but mostly it is a shoulder bag so I can keep my hands free.  What is inside it has changed over the years.  When the kids were small it always had band-aids, Kleenex, safety pins, chap sticks, and cough drops.

I used to carry a small make-up bag, hairbrush or comb, and always carried a checkbook.  Of course I also carried a pen or two.  Years ago, when I was taking a train to work, I carried a tote large enough to hold a pair of shoes since I wore tennis shoes to and from the office.

Now I only carry my wallet, keys, a lipstick, my phone. a small pack of tissues, a rosary, earbuds, and either a book or most often my tablet.  There is also usually a tin of mints and an emery board along with the purse hanger, 

Keeps my purse off the floor!

it's a pretty butterfly.

a recent gift from my daughter.  I don't carry a camera since my phone and tablet have a camera.  In fact  the major criterion for selecting a new purse is that it is big enough to hold my seven inch tablet.

I like variety and change, so I don't buy expensive purses and have several that I alternate using but I don't change them every day.

The Book of Me, Written by You - Week 26 Technology

I am participating in Julie Goucher's activity:

The Book of Me, Written by You.

This week's prompt is - Technology

What technology changes did your ancestors see?
What technology changes have you seen?
Did your family own one of those early changes? - such as television
Do you like or dislike technology?
What do you think has been the best technological change in your lifetime and historically?

My grandparents witnessed the advent of cars, planes, telephones, radios, and refrigerators.  Unfortunately they were all deceased before the inventions from the 1960's forward.  My dad's father was an early proponent of the automobile.   As part of his work the family traveled around the United States fairly regularly in the 1910's and 1920's.  I don't remember ever seeing my mother's father with or in a car but I an sure he also was enamored by automobiles.  All of his children went to boarding schools and I am sure it was the means of visiting the children.

Hansen Road Trip circa 1913
(photo owned by Denis Murray)

One of the wedding gifts my parents received was a floor model combination radio and record player.  One of it's features was the ability to make your own recordings!  

This looks like the radio I remember.
(photo credit google images)

Often my parents would have get-togethers with their parents and siblings.  These gatherings were recorded with my father acting as moderator.  The recordings have been moved from the steel discs they were on to cassette and now to cds.  It is amazing to me that I can still listen to the voice of grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles long gone.  My youngest brother was only 2 1/2 years old when dad died and didn't remember his voice.  I was a special treat to share these recordings with him and my other siblings.

I grew up with television, stereo. and hi-fi.  Transistor radios, brownie cameras, and 45 records were popular.  Most of these are gone now replaced by streaming video, mp3 players and cell phone cameras.  TVs remain but now they are flat screens, frequently wall mounted, and much larger than the 13 - 19 inch ones popular in the 1960's and 70's.

Remember these from game shows?
Google images

In the 1960s computers were entering the work place and one of my jobs was as a key punch operator.  I also learned how to wire a board for a card sorter.  I have been working with computers in various ways ever since.  Since my husband also repaired computers in his work, I have always been around them.

I vividly remember the first microwave oven I saw in use.  I was on 20 July 1969, the day we landed men on the moon.  My husband and I went to visit a friend on the way to going to an airshow in Sandwich, Illinois.  We were very excited because Bob Hope would be doing a show there.  Our friend invited us into the kitchen to see his wonderful new toy.  He dished up ice cream and poured chocolate sauce over the ice cream.  He put the dish into the microwave and set the timer for 10 seconds.  When the time was up he took out the dish and the sauce was hot but the ice cream was still frozen!  We were amazed.  I think we also cooked hot dogs that day too.

I love technology!  It allows us to do so much more exploring and learning.  I love making the "cousin" connections I can through the use of blogging and social media.  I love the technology that produced all of the labor saving devices that we enjoy today, it allows us the time to do so many other things.  But really the most important technological invention ever was the invention of the Gutenberg Press which allowed the education of the common man.