How readily we recall the WWII fighter pilot's last plea for help, "MAYDAY, MAYDAY!" Is THIS how you feel about the accumulated paraphernalia associated with your family tree climbing? Photocopies, pedigree charts, old photo albums, folders, certificates, diaries, letters, faded lace fans, pocket watches, dust, flash drives and DVDs, homestead papers, family bibles, and maps sure do accumulate quickly. Well, that's exactly why we have these monthly organization checklists. With the possibility of a swine flu pandemic, many of us may find ourselves home for a 7-10 period. Local schools and churches in Park City, Utah are on such a “lock down” right now. We pray that this illness will not be as devastating as the 1918 flu outbreak. But let’s not wait for a health crisis to force you home with nothing else to do but finally get organized. Last month we talked about getting your scanner working, and now we’re going to do some heavy duty work in that regard. MJepson’ who wrote “I am concerned about quality of scans, and have basically been stymied and have not done a thing. I’d like to get an all-in-one printer, but my husband is worried if one part breaks down, it will render the rest of the machine useless.”
The solution? Just break down and get the best all-in-one you can afford. Ol’ Myrt here always buys HP printers, and generally I’ve tired of them before they break down. In fact I cannot think of one that has broken – ever. I tend to give them away to an elderly person who barely does email, and purchase a new one because of some intriguing new feature. My newest all-in-one is the HP 7310, which is a few years old. They have a newer HP Officejet 6500 All-in-One Printer which is rated for 40% less ink consumption and the resolution will be adequate for your needs. Note it has flatbed scanner and an automatic sheet feeder. The latter wouldn’t be advisable for family letters or photos, but comes in handy for photocopying multiple pages of a hotel bill when you need to submit the originals for reimbursement.
Photocopy & scan all original ancestral items, diaries, family recipe cards, etc. This is not a call to scan every proof document, mind you, just the original ancestral items you’ve inherited over the years. The goal is to preserve the originals so that you are working from the copies.
Original documents concerning your ancestors or bearing their signatures need to be protected from:
• Light • Humidity • Wear and tear from handling without gloves
One of yesterday’s blog posts “What if it’s a roomful?” over at the Internet-Genealogy Blog, featured the story of a researcher who has old family letters dating from 1796 to 1898. Ol’ Myrt here has a plan for preserving the originals, while sharing both the image of the original AND your transcription, but first a few definitions:
Transcription: Word-for-word typed from original document, misspellings and all.
Abstract: essential words in a surviving document.
A transcript is not your evaluation of a document, but a letter-for-letter, word-for-word typescript created merely for clarity in reading. Never throw away the original document even if it is a photocopy. A transcript needs to be backed up by the original text, since there is always the possibility that your understanding of early handwriting might be mistaken. Others could improve on your transcript. A true transcript will include all spelling and grammar errors found in the original document. If you are unsure of a letter or word use indications such as [??], where the two question marks stand for 2 indecipherable letters. If you must make a comment, also use those square brackets. Where an ancestor is listed as “L.J. Froman” don’t type his full name, even if you know it to be Lorenzo James Froman. The document says “L.J. Froman” so type just type “L.J. Froman”.
In my personal research there are several instances of two men living in the same place with identical first and middle initials. Other documents must be used to draw conclusions as to which gentleman is being referred to in a document. Death dates are a big clue.
The book Organizing and Preserving Your
Heirloom Documents by Katherine Scott Sturdevant explains "Genealogists and non-genealogists alike inherit diaries, memoirs, letters, papers, or memorabilia from their relatives and ancestors. This book shows you how to safely collect, preserve, and even publish some of these treasured heirlooms."
BRIGHT IDEA: Use opposing page positions to feature the original and your transcription. If your fortunate to have acquired a series of letters, arrange them in notebooks where the photocopy of the original is on the left-side page facing your typed transcription on the right hand page. See the example of my great-grandmother’s marriage certificate (page 4) and the typed transcript (page 5.)
I had to move those sample to opposing pages, so they will appear slightly out
of order in this monthly organization checklist. Note that Ol’ Myrt here has attempted to keep the same layout, when
transcribing the document. This arrangement facilitates a line-by-line review of my transcription to ensure there are no errors. Please note we know the bride to be Eliza Marie Wasden, not Eliza M. Weasden as the marriage return indicates. I did not correct the spelling or add that “M” is known by our family to stand for Marie. My transcription was word-for-word -- neither adding nor subtracting one iota. In a client report or in an ancestor’s notes regarding this document, I can make the distinction about the name variant.
Altunas County Recorder. Shoshone, Altunas County Idaho, August 10th 1883. This is to certify that on the 25th day of July 1883, Charles S. Weiser and Eliza M. Weasden were by me joined together in the holy bonds of matrimony – at the Spencer house in the village of Shoshone, in the County of Altunas, Territory of Idaho. And I further can cer- tify that before solemnizing said Marriage, I fully satisfied myself that each of said parties were of legal age, and that no legal impediment ex- isted. Witnesses present. Gent. E. E. Cunningham & Wife, Porter W. Spencer & Wife, Mr. & Mrs. Martin All of Shoshone Altunas County, Udaho. J. S. White Justice of the peace in and for Shoshone Precinct, Altunas County Territory of Idaho. Recorded at the request of J. S. White Aug 15, 1883 at 10 o’clock AM. C. B. Foss County Recorder.
Attach scans of all original ancestral memorabilia to the appropriate ancestor in your genealogy management program,. Why isn’t one my grandmother’s handwritten postcards an adequate substitute for her portrait if I didn’t happen to have a photo of her? I do have a few pictures of Gramma Myrtle, but must we limit the multi-media to photos? Certainly not. Here we have an example of the picture gallery in Legacy Family Tree Version 7, where I have six items
attached to my father Glen Shirl Player’s file. There are: • 3 photos • 2 scanned images of documents • and the photo I took of Dad’s baby book.
To add another picture in Legacy Family Tree V 7, merely click the “picture” button (second row of buttons in the upper right.)
Logan Charles S. Weiser
& Eliza M Weasden
Figure 1 - Legacy Family Tree (V. 7) - ‘Picture Gallery’ screen shot.
Below is a close up of Legacy’s ‘Display Picture’ screen, where I’ve typed in the caption, date and description of the ‘Baby’s 1st Christmas’ pages in my father’s 1918 baby book. Note, I have the ability to do all sorts of editing with Legacy Family Tree, including scanning, rotating, adding sound, flipping, changing to gray scale and setting this image as my desktop wallpaper.
WEEK THREE: 10-16 MAY 2009
Celebrate Mother’s Day 10 May 2009 by sharing a family photo of your mom or grandmother with your siblings and cousins. After all, you ARE the family historian and such exceedingly wild activities are expected of you. It falls to you to use a tape recorder or camcorder to interview the oldest relatives to ask them to share their insights about their moms. Present your work using a variety of free tools such as:
Figure 2 - Legacy Family Tree (V. 7) Edit display picture screen shot.
Remember, last month you began asking your distant family members for copies of old photos and family documents. Perhaps getting something together for Mother’s Day this week or Memorial Day later this month will give everyone in the family the opportunity to exchange what’s been gathered. Sharing old photos is your chance to spotlight an ancestor to the current living generations.
Begin scanning documents you collected and filed earlier this year in surname binders A-D. Then, using your genealogy management software, be sure to attach the scanned image to each individual mentioned in the document or pictured in a family portrait. Since you did this in the beginning of the month with the important original documents you inherited, you are on a roll now. WEEK FOUR: 17-23 MAY 2009
The rest of the month is devoted to a not-so-talked
about part of family history - that is the accumulation of fabric artifacts, such as old bonnets, handkerchiefs, wedding dresses, leather booties, mittens and quilts. Perhaps your collection includes an infant christening dress.
Learn all you can about the special care and handling of these family heirlooms. www.lightimpressionsdirect.com is
a good source for acid free tissue paper & storage boxes. Gaylord Brothers is used by libraries, and includes preservation materials.
Carefully hand launder each item, whenever possible using Woolite or Ivory Flakes only on the advice of your local fabric specialist. There are also special preparations at fabric stores in the quilting department, designed to soften the fibers that have become brittle with age. Remember that woolen baby jackets or mittens cannot be cleaned with water and doubtless would not hold up to the stress of commercial dry-cleaning. Proudly place them in an archival storage box, or temporarily display them on a padded hanger, thinking of those spots as badges of honor!
To wrap your textiles, order the blue ACID FREE tissue paper, and acid-free storage boxes from a company such as www.LightImpressionsDirect.com. Placing heirloom fabric items in plastic zip-lock bags only hurts them, because the moisture is trapped inside, encouraging the growth of mildew. It is also important to periodically open each item and fold in different places, so there will be no damage along a single fold line. WEEK FIVE: 24-30 May 2009, plus the 31st
Memorial Day Weekend is the perfect time to visit family graves to clean up and decorate with flags for the soldiers and flowers for the others. Some families make a day of it on the Saturday before Memorial Day, complete with a picnic and fresh-squeezed lemonade for all.
Others express their patriotism through parades and graveside services honoring the recently buried servicemen and women who have given their last full measure of devotion. The Daughters of the American
Revolution chapters in Manatee County, Florida make sure that not one single veteran’s grave goes unattended this special weekend.
Create an ancestor display in a corner of your home just in time for the family gathering. Special family get-togethers are a good reason to bring things out that normally are stored away from bright light and heat that can adversely affect these items. (After all, we don’t live in museums.) You’ll find the conversations often turn to “the olden days” and someone will decide to do cook the chili just the way great-Uncle Bob used to do it. You’ll probably help by bringing one of the family’s favorite desserts or Jell-o salads. In our family, no salmon barbeque would be complete
without our step-mother Blanche’s famous broccoli & rice casserole with sliced almonds.
Blanche’s porcelain-clad cast iron casserole dish isn’t going to be damaged by light, so I’ve made it the backdrop in this countertop display. My sister gave me the glass plate. I painted the “Home Tweet Home” birdhouse, and the “Good Intentions” pottery is the catch-all for Ol’ Myrt’s spare change.
If you wish to show off that treasured second great-grandmother's quilt, do so only on special occasions, and return it to its rightful storage place as soon as possible. It deserves a rest! This way, future generations will also enjoy the glimpse into the past through this glorious medium for many such family gatherings to come. SUMMARY – MAY 2009
You’ve acomplised a lot this month, scanning the most important original, one-of-a-kind documents you’ve inherited, and then beginning to tackle those photocopies of proof documents you collected in surname binders A-D. Ol’ Myrt here realizes for some of you, this alone, will be a monumental task. When it comes to the family photos and fiber artifacts, think of yourself as your family’s “museum curator” for all things ancestral.
Figure 3 - Heirloom turquoise and white casserole dish among newer items on permanent display in Ol' Myrt's kitchen.
