Roots & Branches

When you are working and researching, keeping your nose to the grindstone, take time to relax and think.  Sometime this is the best way to let you brain catch up.  When you feel you are sitting to long or your eyes are just gone, get up take a little walk, relax. 

 

I find that if I shift gears, my mind tends to think a little clearer.  As much as I hate doing dishes, I will run a load or take time out to put in a load of laundry.  I stick my head outside and get some fresh air.  It seems when I come back I am refreshed and I am ready to go on. 

 

Genealogy is a time consuming task.  You will not do it over night.  If you think you are, think again.  It is so well worth the work, but it is work.  But you will need to pace yourself and find a rhythm. 

 

When you find your need to try something else, try the following, they work for me:

Take a walk

Go outside

Run errands

Do house chores

Stretch out (a little light yoga is great)

Read a book

 

With the last one, I have randomly run across novels, that are in fact based on genealogy.  This help keep you thinking, gives you ideas, relaxes you. 

 

Try some of theses:

 

A Veiled Antiquity by Rhett MacPherson

Always Time to Die by Elizabeth Lowell

Celestial Maronies by Peter Esterhazy

Death on the Family Tree by Patricia Houck Spinkle

Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky

Far from the Tree by Virginia DeBerry

Genealogy of Murder by Lee Martin

Jacaranda Vines by Tamara McKinley

Outland by Diana Gabaldon (my personal favorite!!!!)

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

Roots by Alex Haley (great book)

The Ancestor Game by Alex Miller

The Devil in Tartan by Elisabeth Ogilvie

The Family Tree by Carole Cadwalladr

The Slow Way Back by Judy Goldman

The Wings that Fly Us Home by Dayna Dunbar

  

Kindness Runs in the Genes 

Not long ago a lady stopped by the library.  She was doing research on your mother’s line that once lived in Green River.  She and her companion had traveled a long distance from Pennsylvania (WOW) to do on-site research. 

I was able to find a listing of her family in the Cemeteries in Sweetwater County by Phyllis Martin. She was happy to find the listing and I gave her the address and contact info for the Wyoming State Vital Records where she could request birth and death records.  All states have a Vital Records Office.  They are a wonderful starting place.  But we could not find much more here at the library. 

 

The only problem was, what could she do next?  Locally we have the Sweetwater County Museum.  This is always a good place to try.  Also another good source is the local Court House.  They have the old original bound books of marriages, divorces, property taxes, etc.  But if they did not have more info for her, then what? 

 

Here are my suggestions.  Genealogists are some of the most outgoing and helpful people I know.  They will work very hard to help you find what you need.  Online there are several places to try.  Here are just a couple I have used. 

 

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness- RAOGK is a global volunteer organization.  With over 4000 volunteers in every U. S. state and many international locations, we have helped thousands of researchers.  Out volunteers take time to do everything from looking up courthouse records, to taking pictures of tombstones.  All they ask in return is reimbursement for their expenses (never their time) and a thank you.

http://www.raogk.org/

  

US GenWeb-Welcome to The USGenWeb Project! We are a group of volunteers working together to provide free genealogy websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States. This Project is non-commercial and fully committed to free genealogy access for everyone. 

 

Organization is by county and state, and this website provides you with links to all the state genealogy websites which, in turn, provide gateways to the counties. The USGenWeb Project also sponsors important Special Projects at the national level and this website provides an entry point to all of those pages, as well. 

 

Clicking on a State Link (on the left) will take you to the State’s website. Clicking on the tabs above will take you to additional information and links.

http://www.usgenweb.org/index.shtml

  

It has always been my good luck, to run into a true genealogist, just about the time I am hitting a brick wall.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions.  Look on-line for help.  Stop by the local library or museum.  Remember to do the work.  Take the time.  It will be worth it!!