What is in a name? Your name says so much about you especially from the past. One of my family branches contains 2 very well used names - Isaac and John. The Mitchell side of family use these names so much. It help me go back so many generations. You know you have the right person because the names fit.
I passed one of these down to my boys Isaac because I didn't share the "Mitchell" name with them. I took my husband name when we got married but I wanted to share this part of my family with my children. So now my son has a connection to his grandfather's family. This is especially important because this grandfather passed away when he was very young. My other son took a form of John in his name Jonathan, which was my fatger'.
As the boys get older, I can see how much personality was handed down through the generations. My oldest has his father and his father's laid back personality. But this was also on the Mitchell side of the family as well. My grandfather "Ike" which is a nickname of Isaac, was so laid back. He had a great sense of humor too. It's amazing to watch my oldest as he grows, I can see so much of my grandfather in him.
But my youngest also has family traits. He is so much like my father that it's scary. He has a soft spoken voice but he is very lively, "life of the party" kind of guy just like my dad. But at the same time he is a homebody which is a trait passed down by both sides of the family.
So again, what's in a name....it could be nothing but it could be everything when you are searching for your past!
Monday, March 10, 2014
Summer Road Trip 2010!
We went on a genealogy road trip through Oklahoma in 2010. We started out in southeastern Oklahoma and visited Clarita, OK and Moore cemetery. We then visited OKC but not a cemetery there. This detour was too see the interactive science muesuem! We came back down through Clinton, OK to see a cemetery there and photograph some of our family there. We camped at Ozarka Mountains. We spent several days here. We visited Alfalfa and Mountain View and Carnegie, OK. This was interesting for my mother because she was born in Carnegie.
So our journey took us over a large portion of Oklahoma, 6 cemeteries and countless photos of stones that lay in those cemeteries. This road trip was to see places that me and my boys had never seen. It was an opportunity for them to see how history is tied to them.
Have you ever thought of visiting a place where your relatives lived. It's really cool thinking you are walking where they did long before. Would love to be able to hear them talk about their lives.
If you want to see some of the photos we took on this trip you can find them on findagrave.com. You can see my profile HERE.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Letters from the past
Yesterday I came across a letter my dad wrote in 1980. He called it a Diary of his life. What possess us to write stuff down. What possed me to start a blog that no one will really read! Who knows but in the grand scheme of life - in 30 years someone will come across it and be thrilled that you ranted and raved or even shared your stories in life. Our children's children will wonder how our life was.
What life was like when we were kids?
What did it look like through your eyes?
Well here is a challenge - I challenge you - if you are reading this to write your own story. Because if you are reading this, then you are family and I want to include your story in our family hertiage book. You never know when your story will make the difference and answer questions like "Why were they living there, or why did they move there, or what possed them to the move back there!"
I want stories! Anything you are willing to tell and even if you aren't willing to tell it - tell it anyway. We owe to the next generation to share the past with them! We might not be around to answer their questions!
Amy
What life was like when we were kids?
What did it look like through your eyes?
Well here is a challenge - I challenge you - if you are reading this to write your own story. Because if you are reading this, then you are family and I want to include your story in our family hertiage book. You never know when your story will make the difference and answer questions like "Why were they living there, or why did they move there, or what possed them to the move back there!"
I want stories! Anything you are willing to tell and even if you aren't willing to tell it - tell it anyway. We owe to the next generation to share the past with them! We might not be around to answer their questions!
Amy
Friday, May 21, 2010
Proverbial Brickwalls!
Everyone who does genealogy knows what they are. Everyone has at least one in their line. But what does it take to tear it down? Why is it that we erect such huge brickwalls? Ancestors can't know we are looking for them and hide. But yet they don't want to be found.
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my ancestors didn't drop down in to Texas and were aliens. They were born on this earth and died on this earth but WHERE were they when they did these two major events?
Why is it that the more you dig, the farther away from the truth you feel. No matter how much time and effort you put into this search, you still aren't any further to uncover a four leaf clover much less a leaf of your family tree.
Well I need some of that Irish luck right now! What I wouldn't give for a four leaf clover or maybe just a vein of a leaf right now.
I am off to the library on a another wild goose chase!
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my ancestors didn't drop down in to Texas and were aliens. They were born on this earth and died on this earth but WHERE were they when they did these two major events?
Why is it that the more you dig, the farther away from the truth you feel. No matter how much time and effort you put into this search, you still aren't any further to uncover a four leaf clover much less a leaf of your family tree.
Well I need some of that Irish luck right now! What I wouldn't give for a four leaf clover or maybe just a vein of a leaf right now.
I am off to the library on a another wild goose chase!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Our Journey to the past!
I am starting this blog to mostly rant about this, that and the other. But really about our genealogical journey.
I am scrapbooker. I love to scrap. One day a few weeks ago, I was making a family tree for my boys scrapbooks. I asked some pretty easy questions about grandparents, that should have been pretty easy to answer since many of them are still with us. So I set out on a GOOGLE quest to see if I could find something and ran across someone's genealogical tree with my husband's name in. This not only answered my question but got me thinking how much more information is out there in the high tech world of internet.
So what started out as an innocent little search has blossomed into a hobby that now has sparked a family interest. My mother and my husband are now working with me to solve the mysteries of the past. Even our boys get into the talk sometimes.
One of websites we frequent is www.ancestry.com . This is a great site until you find something you want to look at and then you have to pay for it. So we broke down and bought a subscription. We now have a family tree on there that is viewable to the public. Don't worry- if you are still alive your name appears as Living and it doesn't show any other information unless I invite you to become a member. One of the coolest parts about ancestory.com is that when you enter someone on your tree sometimes you get a leaf. It's very exciting to get a leaf. It means that there is more information to see about that person that ancestory.com has found for you. Most of the time you have to have a lot of information about that person to get this leaf. When you see that leaf blinking at you, your heart races and you can't wait to click on it and find something out. Most of the time, you don't get a leaf. So that is why this blog's name has to do with leaves. Finding the leaves from our past!
So on this journey, I have come across some marvelous sites, some free and some not, but the best one is www.findagrave.com. I believe this to be the best site in the world and I signed up to be a photo volunteer. I have always loved looking at old cemeteries and wondering about the stories that the old stones could tell. Who knew this interest would someday serve a purpose! Now this interest is spilling over into my boys. Someday, I hope that I can help you find clues to tearing down your brickwalls even if it's just one brick at a time.
Another great website is the free side of ancestry.com called www.rootsweb.com . This is an amazing site because this is where everyone posts their family trees for public viewing. I will be posting ours in the next few days and I will post a link on here so you can see it. If you go down to the middle of the page there is a link called World Connect Project Main Page. This is the link that lets you search all the family trees. You just type in a name and away it goes. I have found lots of information on here with just a name but sometimes you can't aways trust what you read. Unfortunately some of these people just copy other's work and don't ever prove what they publish. We don't work that way. We do not believe anything until we can prove it!
But the most valuable information comes from county records. Books on cemetery listings and birth and marriage records. This research must be done in libraries. Someday, I believe our grandchildren will not know what a library is because everything will be electronic. There will come a day when all those dusty old books will be record and viewed online just like alot of this information is today. I can only wish to see that day, but for now, I resign myself to spend yet another quiet day at the library - searching for a leaf!
We are new at this and know that we have so far to go, but in the short time we have been doing this we have come to realize that these small acts of genealogical kindness are just what everyone needs to help them "SPROUT LEAVES" on their ancestorial trees!
May your tree be fruitful and sprout!
Amy
I am scrapbooker. I love to scrap. One day a few weeks ago, I was making a family tree for my boys scrapbooks. I asked some pretty easy questions about grandparents, that should have been pretty easy to answer since many of them are still with us. So I set out on a GOOGLE quest to see if I could find something and ran across someone's genealogical tree with my husband's name in. This not only answered my question but got me thinking how much more information is out there in the high tech world of internet.
So what started out as an innocent little search has blossomed into a hobby that now has sparked a family interest. My mother and my husband are now working with me to solve the mysteries of the past. Even our boys get into the talk sometimes.
One of websites we frequent is www.ancestry.com . This is a great site until you find something you want to look at and then you have to pay for it. So we broke down and bought a subscription. We now have a family tree on there that is viewable to the public. Don't worry- if you are still alive your name appears as Living and it doesn't show any other information unless I invite you to become a member. One of the coolest parts about ancestory.com is that when you enter someone on your tree sometimes you get a leaf. It's very exciting to get a leaf. It means that there is more information to see about that person that ancestory.com has found for you. Most of the time you have to have a lot of information about that person to get this leaf. When you see that leaf blinking at you, your heart races and you can't wait to click on it and find something out. Most of the time, you don't get a leaf. So that is why this blog's name has to do with leaves. Finding the leaves from our past!
So on this journey, I have come across some marvelous sites, some free and some not, but the best one is www.findagrave.com. I believe this to be the best site in the world and I signed up to be a photo volunteer. I have always loved looking at old cemeteries and wondering about the stories that the old stones could tell. Who knew this interest would someday serve a purpose! Now this interest is spilling over into my boys. Someday, I hope that I can help you find clues to tearing down your brickwalls even if it's just one brick at a time.
Another great website is the free side of ancestry.com called www.rootsweb.com . This is an amazing site because this is where everyone posts their family trees for public viewing. I will be posting ours in the next few days and I will post a link on here so you can see it. If you go down to the middle of the page there is a link called World Connect Project Main Page. This is the link that lets you search all the family trees. You just type in a name and away it goes. I have found lots of information on here with just a name but sometimes you can't aways trust what you read. Unfortunately some of these people just copy other's work and don't ever prove what they publish. We don't work that way. We do not believe anything until we can prove it!
But the most valuable information comes from county records. Books on cemetery listings and birth and marriage records. This research must be done in libraries. Someday, I believe our grandchildren will not know what a library is because everything will be electronic. There will come a day when all those dusty old books will be record and viewed online just like alot of this information is today. I can only wish to see that day, but for now, I resign myself to spend yet another quiet day at the library - searching for a leaf!
We are new at this and know that we have so far to go, but in the short time we have been doing this we have come to realize that these small acts of genealogical kindness are just what everyone needs to help them "SPROUT LEAVES" on their ancestorial trees!
May your tree be fruitful and sprout!
Amy
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