Question of the Week: What is on your genealogy to-do list for 2019?

Question

What is on your genealogy to-do list for 2019?

My big one is to get my collection of documents, photos, letters, etc. sorted, organized, scanned and uploaded.  I have been collecting letters from soldiers and their families that were written during WWI and WWII in hopes of connecting them with interested family members someday, so I have a lot to go through. I'm planning on using the Scan-a-Thon as an opportunity to work on this.

What's on yours?

Comments

Dedicate more time in updating who’s on my watch list, and asking for help

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Both good things!

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I want to trace my patrilineal Johnson line (Y-DNA) back further and discover the origins.  My Johnsons are rumored to be Scottish, and I have them traced to VA/NC prior to the American Revolution, but I have been stuck there for decades.  

-James "Jamie" Arthur Johnson
http://family.beacondeacon.com/ahj.htm#treechart

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Find my Grandfathers father (no marriage) and his moms parents she was a ward, born between census's. No idea of a name to try to link, just rumors.

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My goal is to ask as many of my male family members to do DNA test to add to my tree I'm hoping that with this added it will help with some knots in my tree especially with the slack, drew, lane sides of family

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Definitely finishing up this last set of birth records for Cieplice!  On Scan 69 of 192.  Going back over who I omitted in the marriage records to see if they have been added via the birth records.  Making a list of everyone I omitted (because there was not previous connection.)

I would really like to help in some way how Wikitree handles our ancestors from Galicia (Austro Hungarian Empire).  I've learned so much over the past year, I'm no expert, but I feel like I have a pretty good grasp at understanding this country, leading up to the dissolution after WWI.  I think it's important for Wikitree to categorize places in Europe based on their historical boundaries ... perhaps in a tier structure like the migration tiers.

There are SO MANY OF US in Wikitree who have ancestors from Galicia!  I would love for people to not feel so intimidated by researching these ancestors.  I get emails from outside Wikitree telling me "this is the first time I have seen this surname on the internet, where do I find more?"  It's a very empowering feeling.

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A discovery via Y-DNA research revealed that my patrilineal Johnson line originated in southern and central England, not Scotland.  This doesn't rule out the possibility of that line having lived in Scotland, but confirms the origin was not there.

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Hi Eowyn, This Question may have been asked somewhere else, just out of curiosity military personnel from which country

Kind regards Ross Geissmann, Queensland, Australia

Answer 1

Getting more of the places in Italy my ancestors are from up on WikiTree is a big one for me. I've been working on it on and off for a while now, since I have consistently underestimated how many people existed between the years of 1800 and 1860 even in small towns in Italy.

Comments

Good goal! I have some ancestors' profiles from Italy I need to work on - you've reminded me.

Answer 2

My goal is similar to yours Eowyn. I have an autograph book which belonged to my aunt which has the names of some American soldiers who were in Southampton, England during WW2. I will scan the pages and add to a free space page for the Scan A Thon. It would be great if I could find someone who could connect to these soldiers.

Comments

That is awesome!  I hope someday to find people who are interested in all these soldiers I have stuff for.  I know I'd be thrilled to get this sort of thing for any of my family members.

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very cool

Answer 3

Get one more 1C1R to have a DNA test in order to finally be able to say for sure who my biological maternal grandfather is.

Once this last cousin is tested then I will know for sure that l have found my mothers family.

Comments

Good luck, people are notoriously difficult to get DNA-tested when it comes to proving or disproving a family relation!

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Wow! I hope that happens for you!

Answer 4

Here are my goals for 2019. I had a similar plan in 2018, that worked ok for me.

1. Monitor G2Gin the morning when I am having my oatmeal and tea.

2. Monitor G2G in the evening when I am watching the evening national news.

3. Continue working on the 603 and 633 Suggestions for the state of Pennsylvania.(Do between 1000-2000 per month)

4. Enhance 1 profile on my watchlist per week adding parents and children with sourcing

5. Learn how to post pictures

6. Visit 6 more cemeteries in Central Pennsylvania this year

7. Learn to add categories to my veterans in  the family

8. Continue researching on brickwalls as I go through the watchlist

Comments

So will you be joining the scan-a-thon to upload those pictures that you have?

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If I can figure it out on time.

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Are your pictures digitized on your computer? If so, then its very easy.

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I like this list!

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Hi Eowyn, hope the New Year is treating you well. Yes, if I do not have lists to work from, even in my personal everyday chores around the house, I go in circles and accomplish very little in the way of productivity.

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You have your work cut out for you! I always admire people who are so organized like this! Good luck!

Answer 5

Good question -- made me start thinking.  I think my #1 goal will be to work on the information I received on the Shaules family when I took over the work done by Tom Dunne [Dunne-385] (my husband's distant cousin) who died recently.  I'm hoping to get hold of his research project that may finally break through the brick wall which occurs at my husband's g-g-grandfather. Secondly I want to finally get all the Dodge photos I have on disc scanned onto WikiTree and thirdly finish getting all the family information I have on my genealogy program onto WikiTree. Big job! Especially since we're making a major move in a month. But I'll just take baby steps.

Comments

Sounds good! Wishing you the best on the move - I've done three in a year so I hope everything goes well for you!

Answer 6

I plan on following up the 'holmes' side (my grandmother's side) ofomy family. My mother's cousin I understand has done the Eastwood side so adding all he's done when he sends me it :)

Comments

Sounds like a good plan :)

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Isn’t is great to have the assistance of cousins?!

Answer 7

One of the things that are unresolved in my ancestry is the maternal grandfather of my great granddad. That would be great if I could solve this mystery.

Comments

Any hints to start from?

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There is a surname of an alleged father on the death certificate of the daughter. Probably I need to order the death certificate of her first husband (not my ggdad) to find out more. Other than that I have the original scans of her baptism entry with all witnesses and the "illegitimate" notice (which is why without a father). Her mother was born in the same city, maybe I find with her baptism entry some namesakes or so. If I'd need to order certificates from there, then it will become complicated, cause that's today in Poland.

Answer 8

You will be busy Eowyn.

I am going to find the connection between 2George families on my list.

My DNA results will need to be entered when I get them, also my son’s. They are being processed right now.

Comments

Nice! I was so excited when I got my DNA results.

Answer 9

My goal is to get way better organized for all the WikiTree projects I lead!

Comments

And continue my research quest to find the parents of my two Sullivan great-great-grandmothers!

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You're awesome Maggie!

Answer 10

My one main goal is this year is to improve my report, and biography writing skills, so all my to dos are aimed towards that. My one big to do this year is to try to finish all the profiles on my watchlist.

I always have little projects going on of course, but writing is my main focus this year.

Comments

This is a good one. It's an area I'd like to improve in also.

Answer 11

I've had the same goal every year for the 20 years or so. I want to know who were the parents of Andrew Ream! I recently found another descendant, but she doesn't know anything either. Hopefully, many, many, many people from Pennsylvania took DNA tests for Christmas.

My real goal is to get myself together. I need a passport because my sister and I want to go to Ireland to break some brick walls there.

Comments

Here's hoping this is the year you get your breakthrough!

Answer 12

1.Get more of the inherited pictures scanned and actually archived in something other than 7 large totes, and also identified if possible.

2. See if I can archive all of my husband's paternal grandparents letters to each other from WWII.  I saw them in a box in the attic...So much stuff, so little room to work on it

3. Take a class on genetic genealogy.

Comments

Good list! I love having the letters my grandparents wrote each other. I need to get those transcribed.

Answer 13

I am slowly going through all of my Profiles and updating the Ancestry Com records to Family Search records where possible.  Also permits me to update Profiles as new information becomes available.

Comments

Good thing to do!

Answer 14

I want to connect more of my family members on Wikitree and improve the profiles I've already added (I generally improve the profiles by birthdays, thanks to the handy-dandy weekly newsletter Wikitree sends out). I want to add pictures of everyone up to great-grandparents (I know my parents have more somewhere, I just need to dedicate a visit to finding and scanning them!). I would love to do a concentrated study on the Walker County, Texas censuses between 1850 and 1880 to track all the family connections.

Comments

Your one place study idea sounds interesting!  I like improving the profiles that show up in my newsletters too!

Answer 15

1.  I hope to finally connect the family I chose for the Connectors challenge.  I've now done more research on them than on my own family . . . and they still aren't connected. Ugh!

2. Get at least one of my family lines completed back to Europe.

Comments

Wow, thanks for being so dedicated to connecting that family!

Answer 16

To cross everything off this list

Comments

Good stuff!

Answer 17

Breaking down the brick wall that is Cyrus Tanksley!

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Tanksley-68

Comments

You  can do it!

Answer 18

Getting sources for all the profiles on my watchlist! That should keep me busy for awhile ...

Comments

An excellent goal :D

Answer 19

I thought I answered this. Must have been elsewhere.

I plan to:

1. Learn more Italian.

2. Break more brick walls.

3. Help more people.

4. Take pics and get pics!

Comments

Questa è una buona lista di obiettivi.

Answer 20

I have so much work to do on my Tree! My goal is to just keep slogging along, and work toward having it complete. I just got my DNA results back, so I want to get on with working through all those matches, and see where they lead!

Comments

Nice! It was so fun when I got my DNA results/matches.