August Photo Challenge

Photos are a great way to get to know your ancestors. It gives you a visual and understanding that just simple text can not. I saw a post by Genealogy Girl Talks (find on Instagram) and thought what a fun way to get to know your family in a less intimidating way! It will also inspire you to look in places you didnt know about. Take the challenge and tag us, @themillennialgenealogist  and @genealogygirltalks  so we can see your photo stories!

Have fun and get to know your family! 

Genealogy, Why Do It? By Brenna Ernst

Genealogy, Why do it?

I once heard that genealogy is in the top ten hobbies in the world and at times is the second most searched topic on the internet. Yet when people hear that I am going to school to become a genealogist a common question I get is why I would want to do that. Some people perceive family history as boring or a pointless endeavor - they are wrong.

Family history is amazing; in fact I love it so much I have three, of the many, reasons why YOU should do family history.

1. You are part of something bigger than yourself.

Thinking about all the people who lead to you being here can be mind blowing. Just think about it. You have two parents, which means four grandparents, and eight great-grandparents. This goes back generations, doubling each time; meaning by the time you have hit your 10th great-grandparents there were 4,096 people who played a part in creating you. Those four thousand people aren’t your ancestors exclusively, but share a connection to who knows how many descendants. That is a connection you share with many people, most of which you probably don’t know. Think of all the unknown cousins out there! Maybe you’re related to the guy who held the door open for you, or the woman who checked your groceries. As you start researching family history and learning not only about your direct ancestors, but their children and grandchildren the world seems to open up while at the same time become much smaller.

2. Strength can be found in stories of forefathers.

The world has never been easy. Each generation has had its struggles, and each individual who has walked this earth has had to learn ways to deal with it. As we take time to learn about our ancestors and what they went through we can find examples of strength. One family I researched made the journey from England to the United States during the early 1800s. When William and Elisabeth left the United States they had four children. At the six month mark of their living in St. Louis, Missouri all four of those children had died from various illnesses within a nine month span. Elisabeth would give birth to two more children while the couple was in Missouri, both of which died before the age of five. Yet the couple persisted. They continued working towards the goals they had come to the United States for and eventually would have four children who grew to adulthood. I marvel at the strength Elisabeth must have gone through to not only uproot her family, but to lose her children along the way. As I think of how she must have felt, I can’t help but admire her spirit for continuing forward. That is when I am reminded that a part of her is in me. I exist because she existed. And maybe some of her determination is in me. Maybe if she could be strong and keep going through those hard times, I can keep going through my hard times.  This is a sense of strength many of us feel as we learn of the feats our ancestors faced.

3. 
   You get to be a detective.

I love watching crime shows. It amazes me how through the investigation process, they take tiny clues which over the course of the show eventually result in everything being solved. Family history is a lot like that. Through various documents created during someone’s lifetime tiny clues are searched for in an attempt to recreate what may be called the “crime scene” or that ancestor’s life. This search can be tedious and ,unlike those many shows I have binge watched, may take years to fully complete, but when you have gathered the evidence that allows you a glimpse into the life of an ancestor it has the most wonderful payout. Not only is there the great sense of accomplishment, but I adore the feeling that I, like the tv detectives, was able to piece together events of the past.

Now getting a family historian started on why you should do genealogy can lead to a long conversation you may not be ready for so I will cut myself off here. But let me leave you with this. Family history is an amazing work. It is incredibly difficult and often frustrating, but it is also ridiculously rewarding. The strength and understanding that can come from searching for those clues about the many individuals who lead to you being you is astounding. So why not give it a try? Start with something simple like learning more about your parents lives - who knows what discoveries you might find as you learn more about your family’s past?

By Brenna Ernst

PHOTO: https://mormonfamily.net/4506/mormon-family-kids-build-identity-family-history

| Research Help | Genealogy Resources #1

EXTRA EXTRA!

No matter what your area of interest is, it always important to stay up on the latest and greatest. Stay knowledgeable and up to speed with what is going on in the world. The same goes for genealogy, (believe it or not). There is so much going on in the world of genealogy, it sometimes can seem overwhelming. I myself, am still finding resources to help me stay up to date and involved.

Here is a list of things I follow or do to keep learning and improving.

1. GENEALOGY GUYS PODCAST 

I love these guys! Every week they fill you in on what is going on in the world of genealogy. weather it be new records digitized and where they can be found, or special projects people are doing around the world. The second part of their podcast is a researcher or another professional genealogist that share their experience. They can be downloaded where ever you listen to podcasts! 

2. Cyndi's List 

"Cyndi's List has been a trusted genealogy research site for more than 20 years. Cyndi's List is free for everyone to use and it is meant to be your starting point when researching online."

If you go to the "Whats New" tab then it lists dates that you can click on and see what is new!  

3. Eastman's Online Genealogy 

This is a genealogical newsletter that is updated daily. It is sponsored by MyHeritage  and always has some great news and updates. 

4. Family History Daily

This is another great daily blog I would subscribe to this website and even go far back to see what records are easily available from all over the world

These are just a few that I subscribe to and have been very helpful! Please share any other tools you use to find new genealogy information.  

| Research Help| MAPS MAPS MAPS

"You Lost? Map It" 

This week I took a class from a professional genealogist, Lee Nishimoto, at the Las Vegas Family Search Library. The class was about Ohio and how important this state is in not only our countries history but our genealogical research. Sister Nishimoto went into great detail, not about records but about MAPS. One of her lines to live by that she shared with me, "You lost? Map it". I could not have agreed more. 

Working in the Family History Library I noticed that the biggest mistake people made was the lack of historical knowledge about their area. They would spend hours and hours looking for records in a county that didn't exist until later. Once I would show them a map of that time period their brick wall was obliterated. 

Its very very important to get a historical background of the lay of the land you are researching. This will save a lot of unnecessary headache in the future. Look for migration patterns, look for land laws that could have made people move, look for rivers and water ways that acted as "freeways".  

Resources to use:

1. Family Search Wiki. 

• Pick what state you are working on for background about that state, its counties and city boundaries. 

2. http://www.mapofus.org This website shows year by year boundary changes in each state. It very useful to find how the counties formed and when. 

3. Good ole fashion Google

4. Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources

*5. Library of Congress historical maps Library of Congress

• This book could be found in a family history library and online on Ancestry. 

Online Red Book

1. googled "map of america before Louisiana purchase" 
2. Family Search  Wiki "United States Land and Property"

Getting Started on Ancestry and Census Research

Over the past four weeks I had the privilege to teach a class at church about starting family history projects from the first step.  I noticed a lot of people were so focused on finding "new" people they were missing important details, that can not only help them find "new" people but find the RIGHT people.  Here is a step by step guide on how to start a tree using Ancestry and how to begin Census research.

Always start with what you DO know and move to what you DONT know.

Ancestry TREE and Census research