Bright Shiny Objects - They Are Everywhere!!

image: navy83girl.deviantart.com

In late December, I committed to the Genealogy Do Over.  I had already begun a partial do-over by selecting a family line and reviewing every person an piece of paper for any missed or overlooked information,  at the same time creating source citations that were missing.  It is one of my failings, not creating source citations as I enter details.  Fortunately I have kept the order cards from the microfilms I have used for my research.

In January I entered the Do Over in earnest.  Enter BSO #1!

image: richardburn.com

 I had plans to attend FGS2015/RootsTech in February.  With a few extra days included for my first visit to the Family History Library, there was the need to plan to make the most effective use of my time at the Library.  I decided to concentrate on two of my husband's Swedish ancestors for whom I had no place of birth or accurate date of birth.  I created a research plan and timeline for both.  Another part of my plan was to check out the Library's holdings for Ireland, especially Counties Limerick and Cork.  These are the ancestral homes of my maternal grandparents.  While I was not very successful in my plan, I was successfully distracted from the Do Over for most of February and a good part of March.  I do not easily admit defeat in searching for clues.

After I returned from Salt Lake City, I went back to the Do Over and finished reviewing the original line I began working on in July 2014 and continued on to another line, following up on my Swedish research.  At RootsTech I attended a class on using the Arkiv Digital to find Swedish records.  To use this program you must first know the place where your ancestor lived.  This resource is free to use at the Family History Centers.  Having learned in class that the immigration records are part of the police records, I have been able to find the record of my husbands great-grandmother Caroline Nelsson leaving Sweden in 1871 to go to Boston, Massachusetts.  

In late March, I became aware of a free class offered online by Trinity University in Dublin, Ireland. It is a six week class titled: Irish Lives in War and Revolution: Exploring Ireland's History 1912-1923. Enter BSO #2!

image: disruptiveconversations.com

 The counties that my maternal grandparents came from in Ireland were heavily involved in the fight for freedom.  " learning the history solves the mystery" right.  How could I not follow that BSO?  While my grandparents were already in the United States at this time, they each had atleast one sibling still living and working in Ireland and they also traveled back to visit several times.  Knowing that they responded to the census question on "Place of Birth" with Irish Free State in 1940 leaves me with little doubt about their leanings.

As I continue the Do Over, I know I will be distracted at time by other BSOs like webinars, conferences, traveling, and life in general but I have resolved to keep returning back to the goals of the experience.  I will never finish in the 13 week cycle of even in a year, but I will accomplish quite a bit this year.

Oh, there is BSO #3 Jamboree in June!