99 (Plus) Genealogy Things meme is going around on genealogy blogs about things you’ve done, not done or have no desire to do in your family history research. The latest version was created by Becky at the Kinexxions blog and my thanks to Susan Petersen at the always excellent LongLostRelatives.net for the idea.
Rules are simple:
Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (color optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type
So here’s mine:
1. Belong to a genealogical society. Several!
2. Researched records onsite at a court house – Illinois, Michigan, and Iowa, so far.
3. Transcribed records.
4. Uploaded tombstone pictures to Find-A-Grave. And have taken some volunteer photos, which is a great way to see new old cemeteries.
5. Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents). I’ve got 23 generations on one line of my husband’s.
6. Joined Facebook. And Twitter. And Google Plus. And LinkedIn.
7. Helped to clean up a run-down cemetery.
8. Joined the Geneabloggers Group on Facebook.
9. Attended a genealogy conference. Rootstech’s my favorite.
10. Lectured at a genealogy conference. Again, Rootstech’s my favorite.
11. Spoke on a genealogy topic at a local genealogy society. California, Utah, Arizona, Illinois, and Colorado groups so far.
12. Been the editor of a genealogy society newsletter.
13. Contributed to a genealogy society publication – Ancestors West is my favorite.
14. Served on the board or as an officer of a genealogy society. I got to go back and speak at the 30th anniversary of the Pikes Peak Genealogical Society that I helped found and served as first president.
15. Got lost on the way to a cemetery. My husband likes to get lost in an Italian beef deli on the way to Chicago cemeteries.
16. Talked to dead ancestors. I get along VERY much better with them than with living relatives.
17. Researched outside the state in which I live – so far in Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan. New England’s next!
18. Knocked on the door of an ancestral home and visited with the current occupants. Just a drive-by.
19. Cold called a distant relative. I prefer letters at first.
20. Posted messages on a surname message board.
21. Uploaded a gedcom file to the internet.
22. Googled my name. You haven’t?
23. Performed a random act of genealogical kindness. Among the most rewarding aspects of genealogy.
24. Researched a non-related family, just for the fun of it. I work on the trees of friends when I get stumped on my own.
25. Have been paid to do genealogical research.
26. Earn a living (majority of income) from genealogical research. Nope, this would cut into my own research too much.
27. Wrote a letter (or email) to a previously unknown relative.
28. Contributed to one of the genealogy carnivals.
29. Responded to messages on a message board or forum.
30. Was injured while on a genealogy excursion. Not exactly on my bucket list ever.
31. Participated in a genealogy meme.
32. Created family history gift items (calendars, cookbooks, etc.).
33. Performed a record lookup for someone else.
34. Went on a genealogy seminar cruise. I like my cruising linked to vacation time.
35. Am convinced that a relative must have arrived here from outer space. Yes, in fact Reunion has a sibling category called “Alien Abduction” which is very satisfying to use.
36. Found a disturbing family secret. Very very sad, but not disturbing.
37. Told others about a disturbing family secret.
38. Combined genealogy with crafts (family picture quilt, scrapbooking).
39. Think genealogy is a passion not a hobby.
40. Assisted finding next of kin for a deceased person (Unclaimed Persons).
41. Taught someone else how to find their roots. I volunteer at the local LDS library and it’s great fun. And I worked as a librarian for nearly 35 years doing this very thing.
42. Lost valuable genealogy data due to a computer crash or hard drive failure. Nope. But I did have my tree corrupt and I had to fix 226 people and 22 sources recently.
43. Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology. I get technology fatigue for sure.
44. Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher. Yes, online.
45. Disproved a family myth through research. My black-sheep uncle supposedly was run over by a taxi on State Street while drunk. He died of cholera instead.
46. Got a family member to let you copy photos. Love my portable scanner!
47. Used a digital camera to “copy” photos or records. Yes, but don’t recommend this or iPhone camera for this purpose.
48. Translated a record from a foreign language. Yep – German, Swedish, Norwegian, so far. Needed help on the German a lot.
49. Found an immigrant ancestor’s passenger arrival record. I’ve got departures from Antwerp, Hamburg, Southampton, Queenstown and probably so others.
50. Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer. And still have the printouts and the headaches.
51. Used microfiche.
52. Visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
53. Visited more than one LDS Family History Center.
54. Visited a church or place of worship of one of your ancestors.
55. Taught a class in genealogy. Used to love teaching adult school genie classes.
56. Traced ancestors back to the 18th Century.
57. Traced ancestors back to the 17th Century.
58. Traced ancestors back to the 16th Century.
59. Can name all of your great-great-grandparents.
60. Found an ancestor’s Social Security application.
61. Know how to determine a soundex code without the help of a computer. But what a dying skill!
62. Used Steve Morse’s One-Step searches.
63. Own a copy of Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
64. Helped someone find an ancestor using records you had never used for your own research. Revolutionary War pension files – fascinating!
65. Visited the main National Archives building in Washington, DC. Did my master’s history degree research there. Taken classes in Archives II in Maryland.
66. Visited the Library of Congress. Took library science grad classes there.
67. Have an ancestor who came over on the Mayflower. Ha – mine barely got here in the late 19th century.
68. Have an ancestor who fought in the Civil War. On my husband’s side.
69. Taken a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone. Of course – and use the micro setting on your digital camera – you get better results.
70. Became a member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.
71. Can read a church record in Latin.
72. Have an ancestor who changed their name. Can you say Scandinavia?
73. Joined a Rootsweb mailing list. The Norway one is invaluable – lovely helpful people.
74. Created a family website. Yes, on My Heritage.
75. Have more than one “genealogy” blog. Like genealogy, blogging is addictive. NO! Please! Help me before I start another!
76. Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received from someone. Would love to have this problem.
77. Have broken through at least one brick wall. The best feeling in the world and many thanks to Sister Peggy who stopped what she was doing on a Saturday afternoon to consult those ancient parish registers.
78. Visited the DAR Library in Washington D.C.
79. Borrowed a microfilm from the Family History Library through a local Family History Center.
80. Have done indexing for Family Search Indexing or another genealogy project.
81. Visited the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
82. Had an amazing serendipitous find of the “Psychic Roots” variety. I dreamed I found a long-lost relative on the next line of a record just last night.
83. Have an ancestor who was a Patriot in the American Revolutionary War. Only on my husband’s side – the most interesting is John Curtiss who turned coat and fought for the Tories and had to escape to Canada. He sued and got his Connecticut farm back after the war.
84. Have an ancestor who was a Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War. See above.
85. Have both Patriot & Loyalist ancestors. See above.
86. Have used Border Crossing records to locate an ancestor.
87. Use maps in my genealogy research.
88. Have a convict ancestor who was transported from the UK.
89. Found a bigamist amongst the ancestors. Maybe….
93. Consistently cite my sources. Natch – not as hard as it sounds.
94. Visited a foreign country (i.e. one I don’t live in) in search of ancestors. Yes, Norway and Scotland.
95. Can locate any document in my research files within a few minutes. Yep – also not as hard as it sounds.
96. Have an ancestor who was married four times (or more). Yep, those Colonial ancestors on my husband’s side were hard on wives.
97. Made a rubbing of an ancestor’s gravestone.
98. Organized a family reunion.
99. Published a family history book (on one of my families).
100. Learned of the death of a fairly close relative through research. No, but it’s odd to sometimes be rooting that someone is dead so I can find a record.
101. Have done the genealogy happy dance.
102. Sustained an injury doing the genealogy happy dance. Does almost dying of happiness count?
103. Offended a family member with my research.
