A meme is going around Geneabloggers' circles about 99 (or more) genealogy things you've done, not done or have no desire to do. It's been going
viral lately and I thought I would join the party. The latest version was
created by Becky at the Kinexxions blog.
Rules are simple:
The list should be annotated in the following
manner:
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
Here's mine, with some variations of my own:
1. Belong to a genealogical society. Several!
2. Researched records onsite at a court house. I'm still finding information online and in my own personal family archives. Once I get through that, maybe I'll have time to do the "real" research.
3. Transcribed records.
4. Uploaded tombstone pictures to Find-A-Grave. And have taken
some volunteer photos. And I'm always willing to transfer memorials to people who are more closely related to a subject.
5. Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents,
grandparents, great-grandparents). And beyond.
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. And more. And created a group for Nebraska researchers - the Nebraska Genea-Peeps.
9. Attended a genealogy conference. Several.
10. Lectured at a genealogy conference. My first big speaking gig was at the 2011 Land Records and Genealogy conference sponsored by Homestead National Monument of America and Southeast Community College. What an honor to be invited.
11. Spoke on a genealogy topic at a local genealogy society. I've been invited, so this will occur in the coming months. Shameless plug: SusanPetersen.net
12. Been the editor of a genealogy society newsletter.
13. Contributed to a genealogy society publication.
14. Served on the board or as an officer of a genealogy society. When I know I am able to make the time commitment I'd love to.
15. Got lost on the way to a cemetery. You haven't?
16. Talked to dead ancestors. I get along much better with them than with living relatives.
17. Researched outside the state in which I live.
18. Knocked on the door of an ancestral home and visited with the
current occupants. Actually, the first time, a group of us were invited. A few years later, my cousins and I dropped in unannounced and the current owners were very gracious.
19. Cold called a distant relative. Not a call, but I believe I should write to the first cousin whose baby book I have. There's been no contact with our family since he was two years old. I do have his address and phone number. But not a lot of nerve.
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. No way. No how. I have enough to stay busy the rest of my life doing my own research.
26. Earn a living (majority of income) from genealogical research. No way. No how. I have enough to stay busy the rest of my life doing my own research.
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.
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. An inland trip is more to my liking.
35. Am convinced that a relative must have arrived here from outer
space. No, but sometimes I think that I might have.
36. Found a disturbing family secret. Others may think so. I'm not too easily shocked.
37. Told others about a disturbing family secret. What would you do if an ancestor killed his daughter and then committed suicide?
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.
42. Lost valuable genealogy data due to a computer crash or hard
drive failure. Nope. This was the year I discovered cloud storage. Thank you, Dropbox. Plus, I upload as much as possible to my tree on Ancestry.com.
43. Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology. Not so much overwhelmed, but amazed.
44. Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher. Does knowing them online count?
45. Disproved a family myth through research. A family history that was published 40+ years ago stated that my murderous ancestor "drowned while trying to save his daughter from drowning and they both died." Finding some newspaper articles from the time of the event (1851) contradicted that myth.
46. Got a family member to let you copy photos. And now wondering why I didn't label them with names. Hindsight is 20/20.
47. Used a digital camera to “copy” photos or records.
48. Translated a record from a foreign language. This may be pushing it. Used Google translate feature on some Danish records.
49. Found an immigrant ancestor’s passenger arrival record. Who would have believed that the Danish immigrants would be the first (and so far, only) ones I would find. They changed the family surname every generation until they arrived in America.
50. Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer. And still have the printouts.
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. I love seeing the instant someone gets hooked on this hobby.
56. Traced ancestors back to the 18th Century.
57. Traced ancestors back to the 17th Century. Hmm. well, I've connected my kin to a published family history. I'm not sure that counts.
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. Well, I read an article about this once.
62. Used Steve Morse’s One-Step searches.
63. Own a copy of Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills. Bought this even before I ever heard of Elizabeth Shown Mills.
64. Helped someone find an ancestor using records you had never used
for your own research.
65. Visited the main National Archives building in Washington, DC.
66. Visited the Library of Congress. On vacation, not to do research.
67. Have an ancestor who came over on the Mayflower. Francis Cooke and Stephen Hopkins.
68. Have an ancestor who fought in the Civil War. John Laymon
69. Taken a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone. Duh! Of course. And there's a lot who don't have tombstones.
70. Became a member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.
71. Can read a church record in Latin. Et tu, Brute. No thanks.
72. Have an ancestor who changed their name.
73. Joined a Rootsweb mailing list. I'm moderator of the Cass County, Nebraska list.
74. Created a family website.
75. Have more than one "genealogy" blog. Like genealogy, blogging is addictive.
76. Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received
from someone. Overwhelmed by what I found in my own boxes of Stuff.
77. Have broken through at least one brick wall.
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. All the time.
83. Have an ancestor who was a Patriot in the American Revolutionary
War. John Bellinger.
84. Have an ancestor who was a Loyalist in the American
Revolutionary War.
85. Have both Patriot & Loyalist ancestors.
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.
93. Consistently cite my sources. I can do better.
94. Visited a foreign country (i.e. one I don't live in) in search
of ancestors.
95. Can locate any document in my research files within a few
minutes. If it's been digitized, yes.
96. Have an ancestor who was married four times (or more).
97. Made a rubbing of an ancestors gravestone.
98. Organized a family reunion.
99. Published a family history book (on one of my families). Really want to publish a book on four generations of the Kelly family in America, but I haven't found all of the collateral lines yet.
100. Learned of the death of a fairly close relative through research. It is very, very weird to learn of a family death via my Google Reader. It's happened a few times now.
101. Have done the genealogy happy dance.
102. Sustained an injury doing the genealogy happy dance. Let's hope not.
103. Offended a family member with my research. Possibly, I don't know for sure. A cousin once asked that I not include her first husband (and the father of her children) in the family tree.
104. Reunited someone with precious family photos or artifacts.
So, how did I score? 62. More than I expected when I started this exercise.
