I am not here to entertain you…I am here to trace your ancestors or to show you how to trace them yourself. When you know your ancestors, you discover who you are and what you have to offer those around you. Your own self-image is boosted by those who went before you.
Having said this, you also need to know that I love genealogy in all of its aspects. And I have a great and fun time tracing ancestors–your ancestors, my ancestors, anybody’s ancestors.
My last entry–about the Ogden Family History Center Conference wasn’t a joke. I tried to upload or insert an illustration on the Conference–I was a speaker–and try as I would, all I got was a small symbol that did nothing.
Even experienced volunteers, staff, and missionaries (young and old) at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City could not show me how to post that illustration to my blog. And all of our tryings froze the site so that I could not write on it, at the time, either.
My computer skills are still growing–I take computer lessons for 2 hours every Monday afternoon. So I am really working to increase what I can do. And to find answers to what I discover that I can’t do.
Just wanted you to know what you are dealing with here.
My research skills are extensive–so I can fulfill my promise to you to trace your ancestors or to show you how to trace them yourself. However, if you have searched for 20 years for an ancestor without success, it will take me a little time to solve the lineage and prove who is the right ancestor.
You see, most of the easy searches you have already done. The quick indexes on the internet you have examined. The online genealogies you have looked at. And, printed books you have searched–at least for the name of the missing ancestor.
What you get from me is thorough analysis of what you have already completed, who you looked for and what you found. Then I draft some key questions for further study and research.
The principal questions are:
- What sources and records for this problem–time period, locality and its jurisdictions, naming patterns of known family members–exist that have not been consulted?” I draft a checklist. In priority search sequence.
- If key sources and records on this list have been searched–“how well were they searched?” I mark those need to re-examine on my checklist. And search those items first.
Research is usually more productive when it is planned in advance. Your favorite genealogist, Arlene Eakle http://arleneeakle.com
PS Stay tuned for Who Fought in the Revolutionary War? This new checklist (and remember that I love and prepare checklists so I don’t overlook what is truly significant) will lead you to new and unsearched sources fort Revolutionary ancestors. If your ancestor was 16 to 60 years of age, and able-bodied, between 1774-1783, he fought–or he had a good reason not to fight and he is recorded anyway. You need to know where to look.