Volunteer Researchers

We all are aware of sites such as Ancestry.com, WorldVitalRecords.com, FamilySearch.org, however one thing that many aren't aware of is all the volunteer researchers out there. Organizations such as Random Acts of Genealogy Kindness, Find a Grave, Names in Stone, are wonderful resources to find information that you don't have access to. Many can retrieve old land documents, marriage records, they will know where and who to talk to get the information for you if it is available. As a Volunteer, it is a great honor to help others solve the mystery, take one more brick down in their quest to complete their family tree.

One individual I took a request for wanted a photograph of a Grandma and her son. He couldn't locate the Grandfather. Turned out there were 3 Generations of the same name for the males, when I went to the cemetery on the back of the stone was a list of family, and next to the Grandmother's grave was that of the Grandfather. 

The back of this headstone helped clear up the confusion. It was set in between the two individuals and had a list of Father, Mother, children on the back. There is one name at the bottom that I will go and do a stone rubbing for, it was a child's name and different last name. At the time there was snow on the ground and limited the amount of time I could apply to photographing the details of the stones.

Organizing your research

First I sort everything by the family surnames into binder inside page protectors. 

Then I arrange all family documents into Location, it also helps break things down into a time line, using Ahnentafel numbering system.

The Ahnentafel is a list of all known ancestors of a specific individual. It charts use a strict numbering scheme to make it easy to see at a glance how they are related to the root individual.

Here are some photos I took tonight of my little system. Some are blurry, I will have to take better pictures when it's not so late at night and the little hands cant get curious.

 

sheet separators that are labeled by the name and generation link Ahnentafel numbering system.

I will look through more of my stuff to see if there are any other suggestions. My Grandma's cousin "Bubbles" Edna did most of the research on Ancestry.com. I am confirming with documentation, and linking photos with names. LOL one of my Grandma's Uncle Joseph Akin was quite the ladies man, he had 7 wives all together... Interesting when you are going through photos and try to figure out which wife is standing next to him. And my Grandma's  Grandmother, Mae Durbin out lived 7 husbands herself, so there is a lot of blended family names to be added. Her married name at death was not Durbin, so I needed to find out who she was her last husband. Through an obituary I was able to find that information. 

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FREE Webinar Family Tree University

Researching your family history can be a great adventure. In this free Expert Webinars, Desmond Walls Allen, author of Family History Detective: A Step-by-Step Guide to Investigating Your Family Tree, will discuss research principles guaranteed to give you success.

Date: Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Starting Time: 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific
Presenter: Desmond Walls Allen, author of Family History Detective: A Step-by-Step Guide to Investigating Your Family Tree


Duration: 60 minutes
Price: FREE!

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WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Anyone who has an interest in family history
Genealogists looking for general guidance on conducting family history research