Those Ancestors Left By Aliens

Miriam, at AnceStories, wrote a wonderful post called Who Are Our Brickwall Ancestors, and Why Aren’t We Blogging About Them Regularly?. As usual, Miriam is full of great tips and advice about how we can more effectively share information by writing about those ancestors that some of us feel have been “left here by aliens”.

In the next few days, I will share information that I have found and documented, and information I still need to locate, about one of my brickwall ancestors.

Thanks, Miriam, for inspiring me as well as others to get busy writing and sharing!

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99 MORE Things!

Becky, at Kinexxions, Thomas at Destination: AustinFamily and Donna at What’s Past is Prologue have been compiling the “99+ Genealogy Things Meme”. I won’t repeat all of it here – but I will list those things which I have done.

1. Uploaded tombstone pictures to Find-A-Grave.
2. Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents) .
3. Joined Facebook.
4. Joined the Genea-Bloggers Group on Facebook.
5. Talked to dead ancestors.
6. Researched outside the state in which I live.
7. Posted messages on a surname message board.
8. Googled my name.
9. Performed a random act of genealogical kindness.
10. Researched a non-related family, just for the fun of it.
11. Wrote a letter (or email) to a previously unknown relative.
12. Contributed to one of the genealogy carnivals.
13. Responded to messages on a message board or forum.
14. Participated in a genealogy meme. (DUH!!!!)
15. Created family history gift items (calendars, cookbooks, etc.).
16. Performed a record lookup for someone else.
17. Am convinced that a relative must have arrived here from outer space.
18. Found a disturbing family secret.
19. Told others about a disturbing family secret.
20. Combined genealogy with crafts (family picture quilt, scrapbooking).
21. Think genealogy is a passion not a hobby.
22. Taught someone else how to find their roots.
23. Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology.
24. Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher.
25. Disproved a family myth through research.
26. Got a family member to let you copy photos.
27. Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer.
28. Used microfiche.
29. Visited a church or place of worship of one of your ancestors.
30. Traced ancestors back to the 18th Century.
31. Traced ancestors back to the 17th Century.
32. Have an ancestor who fought in the Civil War.
33. Taken a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone.
34. Became a member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.
35. Joined a Rootsweb mailing list.
36. Created a family website.
37. Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received from someone.
38. Have broken through at least one brick wall.
39. Have an ancestor who was a Patriot in the American Revolutionary War.
40. Use maps in my genealogy research.
41. Have an ancestor who was married four times (or more).
42. Learned of the death of a fairly close relative through research.
43. Have done the genealogy happy dance.
44. Reunited someone with precious family photos or artifacts.

Wow – out of a total of 104 items, I’ve done 44!  There are a couple other things I’ve done – not on the list:

1. Taken photos of a dead ancestor/relative in their casket.
2. Possess photos of dead relatives.
3. Sent away and received an ancestor’s Civil War Pension Files.
4. Helped organize a family caravan to cemeteries to visit ancestors/relatives graves.
5. Visited a Health Dept. in another state to get death certificates of ancestors.
6. Found my parents’ wedding announcement in the newspaper.
7. Possess memorial/funeral books for ancestors.
8. Possess reunion minute books for family reunions held before my birth.
9. Research the addresses for living relatives to send letters.
10. Shared gedcom files with newly found and long lost cousins.

So how about you?  Have you played?

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