I signed onto the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” program, which provides a writing prompt every Monday to encourage progress and sharing on family history and genealogy. Seems like a good way to kick off the New Year, genealogy-wise.
The first prompt is “Beginnings”, which may be broadly interpreted. I was first going to list all of the people who began our family history research before Dale and I jumped in, but the list got too long and even then I was afraid I’d forget someone. So I’ll let that go except for a special shout-out to my Aunt Jane who got me hooked with her 1976 family history book, a Christmas gift she gave to all of us that year.
In 2001, Jane organized a “field trip” for us to go visit her Great Aunt Irma Timmons to scan photos and collect information. Just this week I came across this photo of Irma and I looking at photos that day. Genealogy field trips are the best!
As far as beginnings I have in mind for 2021, here are a few.
One is to finally publish a Rademacher Family History book, a project that’s been stalled at about 75% complete for many years. I hope to get it across the finish line in time to print and distribute before next Christmas.
Another is to dig into the Alfort family line (the ancestors of my great-grandmother Augusta Matilda Gustafsdotter).
I recently reorganized my home office and made better space for genealogy projects, photos and artifacts. Now I need to organize my stuff to better fit into that space. A corollary project will be to start donating some older and historically significant items to various local genealogy societies. And that reminds me of another field trip I’ve had in the back of my mind – a Midwest tour of various courthouses, cemeteries and archives in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Keep it up Karen! Good job!
Thanks Karen! Your passion for our genealogy is a benefit to all of us. It’s so fun to see the treasures you find.
I’m not as passionate as you are about genealogy as you are but have found some interesting facts and debunked as myth about my family history. Found I could join the DAR due to several Agee ancestors, but I don’t have any American Indian ancestors as my dad suggested at one time. I use MyHeritage and have gone back to the late 1600’s. I discovered my maternal grandmother Nette Agee was born in Michigan (where I now live – visit if you are ever in the Midland, MI area) and she had several brothers and sister I was not aware of. I think I’ve already given you permission to use my MyHeritage web site so if you need it, please use it.
Gary Rademacher
Karen, thanks for all of your work.