26
Aug
Autobiographies
Debby

Finding an autobiography of an ancestor, regardless of how distant, can sometimes open the door to new information on an ancestor closer on the tree.  I am reading the Autobiography of Friedrich Froebel who is my 5th Great Grand Uncle; which I found using Google Books.  My initial thoughts when finding the book were that he would briefly mention his family and then write about his work.  Was I ever wrong, the details of his childhood are amazing.   Friedrich discusses what his brothers and their children did and how they impacted his life and work.

A simple search in Google Books has opened a door into the life of an ancestor and further details of ancestors I knew nothing of.  I will be taking more time searching books online to see what other information is waiting to be found.

I thank my ancestor Friedrich Froebel for writing his autobiography and to Emilie Michaelis and H. Keatley Moore for translating and annotating the text.

Category: Genealogy  Tags: , , ,  5 Comments
24
Aug
Jette
Debby

When researching in Quebec for the period 1621 to 1730, Dictionnaire genealogique des familles du Quebec by Rene Jette is one of those books you need to check out.  The details for the families are sorted by last name and marriage dates.  Listings may include Parents, parishes for vital records,  children (born 1730 or earlier) and spouses of children.

Dit names are listed which helps when researching other sources.  Some of the resources used to compile this book are parish records, census records, and notarial records.

As with all research, it is important to check the sources.  Please use the lists at the front of the book when determining the full name of the parish abbreviations (some are not clear).

Category: Genealogy  Tags: , , , ,  3 Comments
20
Aug
Ellis Island
Debby

Nothing brings a historical event more to life than hearing/reading first hand accounts of what it was like.  I can only image the excitement of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island…leaving their homes to start a new life.  Some came with families, while some came alone.  Each came with a particular background and experiences.  These immigrants helped make America what it is today.

With all the nationalities and different languages and their dialects, it could be a frustrating first impression of the United States.  Island of Hope, Island of Tears by David Brownstone, Irene Franck and Douglass Brownstone, took me on an adventure of seeing the ups and the downs that immigrants went through arriving at Ellis Island.  I can now visualize the events by reading individual’s stories of courage, excitement, and sometimes pure anger, for not understanding why this land of plenty could be so difficult to enter.

Category: Genealogy  Tags: , , , , ,  15 Comments
18
Aug
Updating Queries
Debby

There is always the OOPs! factor when we edit our own work.  No matter how often we check our queries, once we hit the submit/send button we find a mistake; or possibly more information we should have added to make the query clearer.

If you posted on a Rootsweb message board, you can provide a “reply” to your own message with correction/further details.  If you accidentally posted to the wrong message board (yes it is important to make sure you are posting to the county in the correct state), you need to contact the administrator.

Please keep in mind that many administrators run many boards and it helps if you are specific about which board and message you want the correction to occur.

The Official Guide to Rootsweb.com goes into details about the ins and outs of message boards.

Category: Genealogy  Tags: , , , ,  2 Comments
« Previous Entries
Next Entries »