Question

My father passed away recently leaving me the legacy of his genealogy research. what do I do now?

Comments

Please be patient with me, I'm learning whilst grieving, I have to work out what I'm going to do with all this precious family history?

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Very sorry for your loss Sharon. Just take things one step at a time and ask here on the forum when you get stuck. I see that you are a Family Member. I think the first thing to do would be to go through the remaining steps to become a full Wikitree genealogist. I am adding the Greeters tag to your post so someone should be along shortly to guide you through that process.

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Thank you. Dad was the expert but I am a newbe.

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Sharon,

It took me nearly a decade before I could go through my Dad's genealogy work.  Partly because I was still working,  partly just avoidance.   When I finally got to it,  it brought pleasant memories;  no longer just the pain of the loss.    Take your time.

I hope you find as much joy in WikiTree as I have.

Peggy

Answer 1

Hi Sharon, I'm sorry for the loss of your father. First, just take the time you need to grieve, and look after yourself.  But eventually, you will want to put your father's genealogy research online.  Wikitree is a great place to start and there are many of us here willing to help you as you go along.  It can seem overwhelming with all that information, but I would suggest to just do a little at a time starting with your parents, then grandparents, great-grandparents and so on. It is important to preserve all your father's hard work and that it can be available for generations to come. Just do a little at a time and we are here on G2G to help you with any questions.

Comments

Thank you James. I have taken a little time and done a little research which brought me here. I'm not sure if following your advice and going one step at a time is easier and more sensible than doing the GEDCOM thing? (As if I really have a clue what GEDCOM means). But I don't know how accurate dad's info is so loading a huge data base of info to something you all already have here seems a little risky.

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Then you may find it more beneficial to upload each person one at a time. It really does not take too long to create a profile.

I created and uploaded every person in my family tree - I did not use a GEDCOM - and I am very pleased with all the sources and the amount of detail I was able to find and add as stories.

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Hi Sharon, First of all I offer my condolences.

If you have a GEDCOM I would suggest you upload it to one of the other sites like MyHeritage that offer free trees to a certain size. Wikitree is not very good at handling GEDCOMs but is probably the best site to use for keeping your father's work alive. The other site can be used to visualise the tree and evaluate what needs further study. The ones that are full and complete should be posted here, of course.

Welcome aboard and I look forward to seeing your tree progress.

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Hi Sharon, Robynne and Bill give good advice with the GEDCOMs. On WikiTree. I find that GEDCOM files while it is perhaps easier to download all at once it creates an unwieldy  tree full of mistakes. In the long run it is better to manually work on one profile at a time. You will find it will be more accurate in the long run and much easier to keep track of. There are many examples of GEDCOM files on WikiTree needing a lot of cleaning up.

Answer 2

Welcome to WikiTree, Sharon. I am very sorry for your loss. I lost my mother earlier this year and it's been difficult the last few days because I found the sisters she had looked for for 75 years (plus one she didn't know about) 3 days ago and her birthday was yesterday. It has been bittersweet. Finding more of her family would have pleased her though so I keep going. :)

I have posted a message on your profile page that should help you get started. If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to ask me or post here in G2G.

Comments

You may also want to sign our Honor Code. Doing so will elevate your account to WikiTree Genealogist.

I've also informed our Greeters group so that someone can follow up with you in a couple of weeks to see how you're doing.

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Thank you Deb. I am also sorry for the loss of your mother. I wish my dad had found WikiTree before as it seems to be what he was hoping for when he was trying to honour and share all that he had learned.

I'm really struggling here with using this site but when I find my profile page I will read your message.

Answer 3

Hello Sharon, sorry for your loss. Genealogy can be a wonderful way to reconnect and form a fuller understanding of someone. If you have close siblings or if your parents siblings are still with you discuss with them what they are comfortable sharing with the whole world and ask them for their stories, respect everyone's right to share or not share information with a wider audience. Best of luck with your search. Amanda