Sunday, January 31, 2010

Best of the Genea-Blogs - January 24-30, 2010

Hundreds of genealogy and family history bloggers write thousands of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests. I appreciate each one of them and their efforts.

My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the genealogy carnivals, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:

* In Search of the Schulte Line, Part 8: The Superpower of Two , Part 9: We've Come to Our Census, and Part 10: We looked under every rock by T.K. Sand on the Before My Time blog. T.K. and her bloodhound cousin Cheryl have been working on their Schulte problem for awhile, and recently cracked the case by working together. Great research posts. Go back and read the earlier ones in the series too.

* Madness Monday: James W. BARBER in the 1910 U.S. Federal Census by Miriam Robbins Midkiff in the AnceStories: The Stories of my Ancestors blog. Miriam analyzes the entry for one set of ancestors in the 1910 US Census. There are many hidden clues in these records - are you getting all of them? Miriam explains.

* The Heller Brothers of San Francisco - Part 1 and Part 2 by Sheri Fenley on The Educated Genealogist blog. Sheri shares her research adventures tracking down Moses and Martin Heller in San Francisco and other records. Great sleuthing in online databases.

* pisode 79 - LIVE broadcast from Family History Expos in Mesa, AZ by Lisa Louise Cooke on the Genealogy Gems Podcast - Your Family History Show blog. Lisa's latest podcast features Gena Ortega of WorldVitalRecords.com, Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers.com, and Anastasia Tyler of Ancestry.com. What a great show!

* Finding the Original Pays Off! by Apple on the Apple's Tree blog. Apple shares a lesson learned when dealing with compiled genealogies and original sources - go find the original. In her case, the original was online in an image which added critical knowledge about her ancestor.

* The Two Kingdoms (A Cautionary Tale) by Steve Danko on Steve's Genealogy Blog. Steve has had a problem with Facebook, which he explains in this delightful and humorous rant - this can happen to any of us!

* What's In a Name? by Lorine Schulze on the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog. Lorine's ancestor is in records with several different spellings - she figured it out in this excellent research example.

* GenealogyBank - Where Everybody Knows Your Name by Tom Kemp on the GenealogyBank - The Official Blog. Tom uses a simple example of using what you know to successfully find an obituary for a man whose name was unknown.

* Memorial for my Friend, Pernell Roberts (1928-2010) by Jean Wilcox Hibben on the Circlemending blog. Jean was ca lose friend to actor Pernell Roberts - read her loving tribute to him.

* http://www.genealogywise.com/profiles/blogs/52-weeks-of-genealogy-websites by Gena Philibert Ortega on the GenealogyWise blog. Gena lists 52 helpful free websites in this post.

* What I Did On My Christmas Vacation... by Diana R on the Random Relatives blog. Diana tricked her family into a genealogy holiday - see how she did it. Sounds like fun.

* The Last Ride by footnoteMaven in her The History Hare column for 28 January in the Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal blog. fM has a fascinating look at coffins and hearses in this regular column. You do read the GYOJ, don't you?

* Why Is It? by Ruby Coleman on the You Go Genealogy Girls blog. Ruby's funny piece asks those questions that we wish we had the answers to.

* Mining My Cousins on Facebook by Becky Jamison on the Grace and Glory blog. Becky struck cousin gold on Facebook recently - here's how she did it.

* Betsy Wasn't A Ross by Caroline M. Pointer on the Family Stories blog. What an interesting look at Caroline's Ross ancestors and their possible relationship to Betsy Ross.

* The Best Laid Genealogical Plans, Part III by Chery Kinnick on the Nordic Blue blog. Chery's story is inspirational and heartbreaking - she found her birth father and a fine Scottish ancestry, but...

* Weekly Rewind by Apple on the Apple's Tree blog. As always, Apple finds really interesting blog posts and stories that I've missed.

* Weekly Genealogy Picks by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog. John finds more interesting posts, stories and media that I've missed.

I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me! I am currently reading posts from over 590 genealogy bloggers using Bloglines, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

10 comments:

Steve Danko said...

Thanks for the shout-out, Randy. I always enjoy perusing the blogs mentioned in your "Best of" posts.

Steve

Miriam Robbins said...

Thanks for highlighting my post, Randy!

Becky Thompson said...

Thank you for the mention, Randy! Now I have a bunch of blog posts to read this afternoon. You do such a great service for us.

TK said...

Aw, Randy, I'm all kinds of flattered to be included among such excellent company! Thanks!

Diana Ritchie said...

Thanks so much Randy! I'm flattered to be in such great company. I always ready your "Best of..." just to see what I might have missed in the past week.

Charley "Apple" Grabowski said...

Thanks Randy! You make a good point, I didn't find the actual original. I wonder if I get out my wallet and order the file from the national archives if I might find another clue?

Jean Hibben said...

Thanks, Randy, for your recognition of my blog tribute for my friend Pernell Roberts. Losing his has been one of the hardest experiences of my life; connecting with others who have appreciated his work throughout his many years on screen & stage has helped to soften the ache.

Sheri Fenley said...

Thanks Randy for the highlight! Stay tuned as there is more to come!

Lisa Louise Cooke said...

Lacey and I spent 5 weeks pulling together the live show and it's a feather in our cap to have made your list. Thank you!!

John said...

Really helpful info you have mentioned, being a student of Genealogy it has helped me a lot, I have also found a site some days back and found really interesting, up to date and important information at the given site.