Joyce (Bjorkgren) Rivette

Ancestors

Contents 1 Biography 2 Current Projects 2.1 Louisiana Families Project 2.2 Acadians Project 2.3 Biography Builders Challenges 2.4 One Name Studies Project 2.5 Data Doctors Project 2.6 WikiTree Thon Participation 2.7 Other Projects of Interest

Biography

I've been a member of WikiTree since 2016, but didn't get active until 2017's Source-a-Thon. I've been working on genealogy for over 40 years. I love WikiTree's mission of an accurate and sourced shared World tree, and try to help wherever I can. A major focus of my personal genealogical work has been on all descendants of Etienne Rivet, my husband's Acadian progenitor. I can't promise that all of this work will end up on WikiTree, but I will try to add certain families as I can. In the meantime, please feel free to visit my old website, Rivette Family Genealogy. It hasn't been updated in a while, but it does include some information that I haven't uploaded to WikiTree yet. If you decide to use anything you find there on a WikiTree profile (or elsewhere), I would appreciate an acknowledgement.

I am mostly finished with uploading our direct ancestors to WikiTree, using gedcom files and manual edits. I'm using the annual summer Connect-a-Thon challenge to begin adding extended family members. I've been using the BioBuilders monthly challenges to focus cleanup and research work on the profiles I added. It has prompted me to re-look at some of the folks that I haven't researched in years -- back in the dinosaur days of having to go to the library to research from books and microfilm, and wade through courthouse records and tromp through graveyards. No internet then. I kept family group sheets and pedigree charts on paper, then graduated to word processing software. When genealogy software first came into existence, there was usually no place to maintain sources, and if there was, it was crude at best. Add on top of that my initial ignorance of the importance of proper sourcing (I thought I would remember where it came from LOL)... As a result, a lot of the older work didn't include sources for everything. Nowadays, in many cases, quality sources can be found online that weren't readily available in the past, and all in the comfort of my jammies! So it's been good to revisit the old work!

Current Projects

Louisiana Families Project

I am a Co-Leader with Jackie Girouard for the Louisiana Families Project, and this accounts for the majority of my time on WikiTree. There are lots of Louisiana relatives on both sides of our family, including Acadians, Germans, English, and Irish who immigrated in the 1700s-1800s.

I have worked on a space page to verify the Ritters of 1700s Louisiana, who settled in South Louisiana in the mid-to-late 1700s. I try to transfer those sources into the relevant WikiTree profiles when I can, but still have a long way to go.

Acadians Project

My husband's line is half Acadian, including the descendants of Etienne Rivet, so the Acadians Project is an important part of his ancestry. His paternal grandparents each descended through two of Etienne's grandchildren, although they didn't know it and always told people they were unrelated. Surprise!

Aside from the family connections, I also help work on the profiles of Acadians who were deported in the 1750s and ended up in Louisiana. These profiles are in both the Acadians and Louisiana Families projects, and require a certain amount of coordination between the two.

Biography Builders Challenges

The Biography Builders (part of the Profile Improvement Project) are not an official project, but I'm a huge fan! The challenges are a non-competitive, fun way to work on building nice biographies in our profiles, and are based on a different theme every month. I use them to prompt me to improve profiles that I previously added with Gedcom imports or during the Connect-a-Thons.

One Name Studies Project

I recently started a One Name Study for the Rivet name and its variants. It's in its infancy, but I hope it grows as interest develops. The core to begin with is based on the Acadian descendants by that name that I have researched. So far about 35% of them have profiles on WikiTree, so there's still more work to be done. Collaboration on ALL Rivet*s worldwide is welcome!

Data Doctors Project

One thing I've always enjoyed doing is finding errors and correcting them, so participating in the Data Doctors' weekly challenges is a lot of fun for me! Unfortunately it can also be a bit of a black hole regarding my time. Starting in January 2018 I had to cut back dramatically on time spent there, so I could focus on my personal genealogy and other interests. I guess you could call me a recovering DD addict. Now I limit my DD time to mostly project-related suggestions and the annual Spring Clean-a-Thons.

WikiTree Thon Participation

I have enjoyed participating in the various 3-day weekend Thons that WikiTree sponsors throughout the year. They are a lot of fun! These are the ones I've done, starting with the most recent:

Source-a-Thon challenge was held on 2-5 October 2020.

Worked with the Tree Nuts in the second annual Connect-a-Thon 17-20 July 2020. Little by little, I'm getting those extended family members added to the tree!

The Tree Nuts, a general-purpose Clean-a-Thon challenge team, was a fun change of pace in 2020. From 24-27 April, we fixed a lot of errors, and made a big difference!

The Gulf Coast Hurricanes' Source-a-Thon challenge adventure was held on 4-7 October 2019.

The Gulf Coast Hurricanes participated in the first annual Connect-a-Thon 12-15 July 2019. It was exciting to see so many profiles added and connected over a period of only 3 days!

The Gulf Coast Hurricanes Clean-a-Thon team was started up to focus on Louisiana, Texas & Mississippi. It was held 26-29 April 2019, letting me once again indulge in my DD addiction!

The first annual WikiTree Scan-a-Thon in January 2019 was super interesting. I found more photos and documents than I realized -- or remembered -- I had!

I signed up to be co-captain with Steff Mandarino for Équipe Acadie - Team Acadia for the October 2018 Source-a-Thon. It was a challenge to get everything organized before the event started -- but it was a lot of fun!

The first Clean-a-Thon I participated in was held on the weekend of 21-23 April 2018. This fueled my DD addiction!

My first Source-a-Thon was on Team Acadia, in October 2017. That was lots of fun, and really was the catalyst that inspired me to participate more on WikiTree!

Other Projects of Interest

There are plenty of other projects that I'm interested in, but haven't found the time for yet. I hope to some day get involved in these:

• FRANCE PROJECT (formerly French Roots) - husband's paternal Acadian branch originated there, but I also have ONE known French ancestor, 3GGM
• IRELAND PROJECT (formerly Irish Roots) - my paternal grandmother's branch
• SWEDEN PROJECT - my paternal grandfather's branch
• TEXAS PROJECT - my husband's maternal great-grandfather participated in the Battle of San Jacinto during the Texas War for Independence

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