So Little Time - Passing On Your Research

Two weeks ago my husband’s cousin, Kay, passed away. Kay had been diligently researching her mother’s side of the family for several years and had accumulated lots of wonderful information. Unfortunately, no other family members from that side are currently interested in continuing her work. It is believed in the future a nephew or niece may take up the research but, for now, we can only try to retain important data for later use, perhaps much later.

To that end, as the family historian on the Dad’s side of the family, I was called in to determine what to keep and what not to keep. What an ominous project and I only had one morning, this morning, in which to do it! Fortunately, Kay was wonderfully organized, making decisions much easier than they might have been.

Kay maintained binders - there must have been forty of them - containing descendant’s charts, family group sheets and important documents, as well as separate binders for census records and such. These I suggested should be retained for future reference. Being familiar with Kay’s ability to research and document, I feel secure the most important information for a future genealogist will be found in those binders. Because storage space will be limited, I was far more discriminating with the various folders contained in the filing cabinet.

Now, for the real point of this blog! I backed-up Kay’s Family Tree Maker File to an external device and gave both the file and the software version she was using and the manual for that version to the family. However, technology being what it is that file and the software will be obsolete before we know it. I can guarantee nothing will be updated after today.

Now, I love technology but I am convinced we still need to get our genealogy on paper. I came to that conclusion a couple of years ago when I decided to start creating family history books to be sent to family members and libraries. Whether it’s in book form or printed out and organized in binders or family folders, please, make sure your work is in print form. If you’re still researching, be sure to keep your print records updated as well as your computer files.

I’m wearing a shirt that says, “So many ancestors; so little time.” The truth of that statement was made very clear to me today. We have no way of knowing how long we have on this earth. To have any hope of our work carrying forth to the next generation of genealogists, we need to put it into a stable form. The most stable form, even today, is print.

Yes, I am posting this on my blog and will mention it on Twitter and Facebook but, if I really want my g-g-grandchild to read this, I will print it, put it in an archival safe sheet protector, and put it in a binder marked DO NOT DESTROY – FOR THE NEXT FAMILY HISTORIAN!! There’s no guarantee that will work either, but at least I will have given it my best shot.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Surname count

I don't have too much time this afternoon so I'll have to be brief with my answer to Randy Seaver's

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How Many Surnames?

It's Saturday Night - time for more Genealogy Fun!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  Go into your Genealogy Management Program (GMP; either software on your computer, or an online family tree) and figure out how to Count how many surnames you have in your family tree database.

2)  Tell us which GMP you're using and how you did this task.

3)  Tell us how many surnames are in your database and, if possible, which Surname has the most entries.  If this excites you, tell us which surnames are in the top 5!  Or 10!

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

However, I did take a minute to check out a few statistics. I am using Family Tree Maker 2012 and this is what the file statistics gave me:

As you can see, from my 4,534 people in the file, I have 925 surnames (among those is the all too common UNKNOWN). I was surprised to see I had 816 Media items since I only started adding media a couple of years ago.


This is my main file where I keep both my sides and my husband's sides of the family. I've often considered dividing the two but so far I've kept us together:-)

Dream vs Reality

To begin with I'll admit I am retired and prior to retirement I had a vision of what my tranquil, easy life would be like.

• My dream morning: I wake up on my own volition, sun streaming in the window, song birds twittering sweetly to each other. I brew a cup of coffee, log on to my laptop (or I-phone or tablet) to leisurely catch up on my facebook and twitter and google+ friends and family. I might post a thing or two about what I've been up to or what I'm planning for the day. I might need a second cup of coffee to get it all done but who cares, I've got all day! Then, I'll take the dog for a walk, grab some lunch, and get going on my projects - writing blogs posts, writing my current family book, or researching online. I'll break for dinner when I get hungry, then if there's not a meeting to attend, I'll get back to work or catch a webinar or a web radio show on genealogy.
• My reality: I wake up between 5:30 and 6:30 to the sound of my dog giving herself a "bath" or chewing on her paws. I'm up and showered by 7; While my husband takes his shower, I  brush the dog's coat and teeth and send her out to potty, prepare breakfast - no biggie mind you , just cereal or English muffins -, and brew some coffee. No time to log on now, we have to head out to a State park or bike trail or somewhere like that for our walk with the dog. Hurry up 'cause it's almost time for lunch; we're on a schedule you know!! Finally, about noon, I'm allowed about four hours to do whatever I want which means I usually rush through fb, twitter, and google+ so I can get to my projects. I've only got until about 4pm before my time and attention are required elsewhere once again.
• Truth: I'm oh so grateful to have a husband who after all these years (50 this year) still wants me by his side for almost everything. I'm happy to have the privilege to sit next to him and watch tv in the evening; even if it means I miss a webinar or two. There's no way to know how long we'll have together and I would hate to regret not spending these precious hours with him.

Come to think of it, my dream morning could get to be pretty lonely. I'd rather share my retirement with all its give and take than have complete control without the love of my life.

Wordless Wednesday Almost - Eliza Jane Hinton Leisure

All that's missing from the photo of Eliza Jane (Hinton) Leisure is her corn cob pipe. No joke; she did enjoy her pipe upon occasion. 

Leisure, Ging, Stewart, Emay Family Picture

I'm not sure just when this photo was taken. It was obviously in the late fall, winter, or very early spring as the trees are completely bare. The temperature must have been mild because there are only a couple of coats or sweaters visible and most of the children are in long sleeves. I'm sure it was taken in Rush County, Indiana but exactly where, I don't know. The year is about 1921; the youngest child in the picture, Eloise, was born in June of 1921 and the youngest boy, Charles Wayne Stewart, was born in April of 1920.

The Leisure, Ging, Stewart, Emay Gang ca. 1922
Left to Right, Front Row: Evie (Powell) Leisure, Eloise Ging, Glen Ging, Earl Stewart, Charles Wayne Stewart, Gail Ging
Back Rows: First person is cut off and unknown, Fanny (Leisure) Emay, Luva May (Reeves) Emay, Irene Stewart,
Hugh Leisure, Lizzie (Emay) Stewart, Charles Stewart, Hypatia (Birt) Leisure Turner, Unknown, Oliver Carr Leisure,
Ruby Stewart, Joseph Emay, Jenny Leisure

I'll be posting a few other photos of the same or similar group in later years. Seems they got together around the same time of year. The trees are always bare:)

Back To My Old Tricks

I'll admit it. I have a very bad habit of becoming super enthusiastic about something only to let my vitality drain quietly away. However, in my defense it usually takes about ten years to completely turn to other endeavors.

I've been working on the family history now for about seventeen years; a milestone of hanging in there! Of course, within that time I've changed my direction many times and there are so many lines to discover it's hard to get bored.

I spent many years devoted to my great-grandfather, William Sidney Emay, the orphan train rider. Taking the time to learn all I could about the era, organizations, social mores, etc. causing and facilitating such programs. I joined the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America serving on the board and as president the last few years of its existence until merging with the National Orphan Train Complex in Concordia, Kansas. During those years I gave lectures/presentations which allowed me to meet many wonderful genealogists and historians.

During all this time, I was also researching other lines of my and my husband's family. I attended conferences, joined societies, took courses such as American Genealogy from NGS, and read everything I could get my hands on about my newest addiction.

A couple of years ago, I decided it was time to write about the family lines I'd been researching. To help me with the task, I began this blog hoping it would keep me on track. I do think it's helped and I did publish my husband's Rush line in 2010.

Last year I was supposed to publish my Leisure line but I didn't get that done. I let too many things get in the way of my writing. My resolution for 2012 was to "write" 5 out of seven days during the year; well, that resolve went by the wayside quickly! However, I am determined not to let my oh so familiar lagging interest get the better of me this time.

In an effort to jump start my enthusiasm I've joined The Family History Writing Challenge issued by Lynn Palermo, The Armchair Genealogist. I've committed to 250 words a day during the month of February. That's 7,250 words in 29 days (darn leap year!) Now, I'm sure I'm allowed to do more than that but not less:)

Can I do it? Can I stay focused and excited enough to stick with it? I'm going to give it my wholehearted best! So if you don't see many posted to this blog or the Leisure blog or the EGS blog, remember that probably means I'm sticking to my guns and writing about my Leisures. Unfortunately, words written for the blogs won't count in the challenge.

Oh and the word count above is 330. Just maybe I can do this!

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy Week 2

Week 2 – Paid Online Genealogy Tools: Which paid genealogy tool do you appreciate the most? What special features put it at the top of your list? How can it help others with their genealogy research?


I have to admit I'm very tight with my genealogy funds and I've whittled my paid site down to only a couple that I use most. I'd love to add more but tend to only subscribe to some on a monthly basis when and only when I need them.



That said, I've been a member of Ancestry.com for years now. Sometimes I'm concerned about the price (it is a bit pricey, isn't it?) but, for me, the benefits outweigh the cost. I'm not a great user of on-line trees, unless they are well sourced. However, I use "user" trees" as clues only and never assume they are correct.


My favorite feature is the ability to merge data into my tree. Although I usually have to refine the citation, I love having an image merge along with the source.


I'm sure Ancestry would be helpful to others in their genealogy research and the nice thing is there is the library addition which makes it available to so many without cost. I, however, would find it difficult to give up perusing its databases at home in my 'jammies.