Saturday, January 6, 2018

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Your Best Find of 2017, and Research Challenge for 2018

It's Saturday Night - 
time for more Genealogy Fun! 



Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:


1)  What was your best research achievement in 2017?  Tell us - show us a document, or tell us a story, or display a photograph.  Brag a bit!  You've earned it!

2)  We all have elusive ancestors.  What research problem do you want to work on in 2018?  Tell us where you want to research and what you hope to find.

3)  Put the answers in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook or Google+ post. 


Here's mine:


1)  I did not have a "really big" research achievement in 2017.  I had a number of small achievements, including:

*  Finding the death date and burial location of 2nd great-grandmother Sarah (Knapp) Auble (1818-1904).

Ordering the birth certificate for my great-grandfather Thomas Richman (1848-1917) in Wiltshire from the General Record Office online.

After a DNA match contact, I tried to sort out all of the Samuel Marshman entries in 19th century Wiltshire.

Tried to identify the location of the property of my ancestor Amos Gates (1706-1783) in Stow, Massachusetts.

Found a marriage record for my ancestors Josiah Sawtell and Hannah Smith, and looked for parents of Hannah Smith in Amherst, Massachusetts.

*  During the year, I obtained many probate records for my ancestors on Ancestry.com, Famil;ySearch.org and AmericanAncestors.org.  These records provide material for the Amanuensis Monday and 52 Ancestors posts.

*  During the year, I revisited my research for my 52 Ancestors post subjects, and found many more records (vital, church, land, burial, military, etc.) for the ancestors involved.  These records also provided material for Treasure Chest Thursday posts.

*  When the Denmark census and church records became available on FamilySearch, I was able to find two more generations of ancestral families for my grandsons.  

2)  For 2018, I anticipate adding to my RootsMagic database using information found online and at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (in February) and San Diego (throughout the year).  In the process, I may get a breakthrough on a brickwall ancestor, or perhaps another researcher will find my blog posts and be able to extend one or more lines. 

I will continue to add content and source citations in my RootsMagic family tree using all available resources, including FamilySearch Family Tree, WikiTree, Geni World Tree, and Record Hints from Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch, plus correspondence from blog readers.


I don't anticipate being able to travel much to do onsite research in 2018 due to my and Linda's health and mobility limitations.  We will go to RootsTech in Salt Lake City in February and to the Genealogy Jamboree in Burbank in June, and perhaps fit in a cruise in the fall.  


In the future, I want to return to Massachusetts again to do onsite research, especially at the NEHGS and in local libraries, historical societies and cemeteries.  I want to go to southern Ontario to do onsite research on my Kemp and related lines.  I also want to visit northern New Jersey to try to find information about my Auble and Knapp and related lines.  


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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2018/01/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-your-best.html

Copyright (c) 2018, Randall J. Seaver

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4 comments:

Janice M. Sellers said...

Like you, Randy, I didn't have any huge successes in 2017, but I certainly have set myself some challenges for 2018.

http://www.ancestraldiscoveries.com/2018/01/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-your-best.html

Lisa S. Gorrell said...

I accomplished a lot last year but didn't keep track. I do have some nice goals for 2018.

https://mytrailsintothepast.blogspot.com/2018/01/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-your-best.html

Linda Stufflebean said...

Randy, Here are my best finds and new loose ends I'd love to find this year.
https://emptybranchesonthefamilytree.com/2017/12/best-genealogical-finds-of-2017/ and
https://emptybranchesonthefamilytree.com/2018/01/reviewing-2017-planning-2018-genealogy-resolutions/

kdduncan said...

My big breakthrough was documenting William Mason's father after over 40 years of looking:

http://kdduncan.blogspot.com/2017/11/william-masons-father.html

I am encouraged to keep going after my "brick walls" in 2018.