Sorry the bulletin is a little late. With the kids home for the
holidays I just couldn't get to the computer. Hope you all had a
wonderful
holiday season. My best wishes for this new year.
JaAnna Nelson, Director
SL Granger West Stake FHC
***************************************************************
Salt Lake Granger West Stake
Family History Center Bulletin
3300 South 4440 West (801) 964-7490 or 964-7262
Vol. 5 Issue 1 January 2004
CENTER HOURS
CLOSED Jan. 6th & 8th in the evening only for Family Togetherness
Week.
Sat., Sun., Mon., - by appointment thru your Ward Family History
Consultant
Tues. thru Thurs - 10am to 4pm;
Tues. & Thurs. - 7pm to 9pm; closed Weds. night
Fri. - 10am to 1pm
Please call before coming as we sometimes have staffing problems that
causes the center to be closed.
"What could you do better for your children and grand children than to
record the story of your life, your triumphs over adversity your
recovery after a fall, your progress when all seemed black, your
rejoicing when you had finally achieved?"
(Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 351.)
The US Geological Survey (USGS)has created an extremely useful tool for
locating genealogical sites in the Geographic Names Information System
(GNIS). This extensive database has almost 2 million physcal and
cultural geographic features in the United States. Each of these
features is classified into one of about 64 types including such things
as airport, cemetery, church, dam, lake, populated place, post office,
or valley. These features are not only those that currently exist but
seem to include many that long ago ceased to be. You can access this
site at the following link:
Now that I am in the "autumn" of my life and both of my parents have
been gone for many years, I have found myself deeply interested in
family history with many unanswered questions questions that my parents
could have answered. I've decided that this is not going to happen to
my children. I have begun to write little stories about my life, with
inserted pictures, in a document file, adding the rearranging sequences
of events as I remember them. I have also encouraged my husband to do
the same. It's amazing the little things you find you have not thought
about in years when you start writing them down. I really wish my
parents had done this. These stories will make interesting reading for
our grandchildren as well, when they are in the "autumn" of their lives.
S.J. Meese
Ohio
As children are asked to give talks in church encourage them to use
stories taken from their ancestor's life experiences. We can learn much
from their examples.
Click on "Library" then "Education" then "Family History Library
Classes"
Of special note is a basic research series of five classes being taught
on Sat., Jan. 17th starting at 8am thru 4pm. Pre-registration is
required as there is limited seating. Call 801-240-4950. There is no
charge for the classes.
January is traditionally the time we reflect on where we are and where
we would like to be. It's a time for setting goals.
There is an excellent article by Juliana Smith in the Jan. 5th issue of
Ancestry Daily News entitled "Improving Your Odds in the New Year" at
the following link:
The article gives some great suggestions on some goals to set in
regards to our family history research. Here are parts of the article.
"...Let's look at some ways we can improve our odds of keeping our
resolutions and our momentum going throughout the year.
"Get Real
OK, first of all we need to keep our goals realistic...we shouldn't
expect that one night of research is going to answer all our family
history questions. Rather than targeting an entire family line, set
goals to locate specific information. (e.g., "Try to narrow down date
of immigration for Thomas Howley," or "Locate marriage record for
Thomas Howley and Jane Gosson.") With a specific goal in mind, it is
easier to focus on what needs to be done. The next step would be to
plan how you'll achieve that goal. For Thomas Howley's immigration
date, I will plot every record I have of him in chronological order and
try to fill in any blanks. City directories, census records, and dates
and places of birth for his children can help me to pin down when he
arrived in the U.S. and narrow my search for an immigration record.
This information will also create a profile of him that will help me to
pick him out of the crowd.
"This is an achievable goal, especially now that more and more
immigration records are becoming available online. Once completed, not
only am I hoping it will provide me with enough information to proceed,
the mere fact of having met my goal will add impetus to my search and
make me more determined to achieve additional goals. As they say,
'Success breeds success.' "
"Give Yourself Deadlines
Sometimes I think if it wasn't for deadlines, I'd never get anything
done. If I just write up a general to-do list, it's too easy to put
things off. In Paula Warren's article from the December 29 Ancestry
Daily News, she suggests putting our family history plans on a
calendar. I intend to heed that advice and put my goals on my
computer's calendar...
"Lose Dead Weight
If someone were to ask me what factor most often hinders my family
history research, I would answer without hesitation that it is the
clutter. We generate tons of paperwork in the form of records, indexes,
notes, and correspondence. Frequently when I go through my files, I
find duplicates, and I find records and notes that more recent research
has rendered obsolete. This dead weight clutters my files and makes it
difficult to accomplish anything.
"As a family historian, I have a real problem when it comes to parting
with any record. I keep thinking that even though I now have the
original census record for my ancestor in New York, someday I'm going
to be glad I have ten copies of that index for New Jersey. Since I know
I have issues with this, I have created an "obsolete" file, and a
"duplicate" file. For anything that my newer research has rendered
obsolete, one copy goes into the obsolete file. Duplicate copies of
records that pertain to my family go into the duplicate file. If I need
to share something with a relative or fellow researcher, I can use the
copies from the duplicate file and save a tree. The obsoletes can be
posted to mailing lists and message boards and will hopefully help some
other researcher and build my genealogy karma points. Keeping the files
(organized by surname) is kind of a security blanket for me, but one
that can go into the file cabinet downstairs so that my office and
current research stay uncluttered."
Juliana Smith is the editor of the Ancestry Daily News and author of
The Ancestry Family Historian's Address Book. She has written for
Ancestry Magazine and Genealogical Computing.
"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can
work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those
acts will be written the history of this generation."
Robert F. Kennedy
*************
Comments & Suggestions are welcome.
Editor: JaAnna Nelson, director Granger West Stake FHC. To receive this
bulletin as email send request to: jaanna@mstar2.net
OR jaanna2002@yahoo.com