When I decided in January that I was ready to take the plunge and send in my preliminary application for certification as a genealogist, I had no idea of the benefits I would receive from making a concentrated effort to improve my skills in research and reporting. One of the very real benefits I've gained is just the necessity (and luxury) of getting back to researching my own family again. When I became a professional genealogist and started doing research for others, it was absolutely necessary for me to learn how to cite my sources correctly and write a proof summary. When I was laid off from my part-time job (almost 2 years ago!) paid research was vital to this household, and I did very little research on my own family.
In deciding on my research subjects for my case study and kinship determination project, it made sense for me to choose my own family, since I've been doing research on them for over 30 years. And over the years, I've collected some unique original records - such as the original patient files for my great-grandfather Henry Hickox Chase, who died in the Traverse City State Hospital in 1940. (I asked for and received those records in 1985, before today's privacy laws kicked in!)
In looking at my own Legacy database, I'm more than a little horrified at the insufficient (or non-existent) source citations. Source citations like "1880 census of Manistee, Michigan", instead of "1900 U.S. census, Manistee County, Michigan, population schedule, Manistee, enumeration district (ED) 38, sheet 1A, p.218 (stamped), dwelling 2, Stacy Thompson; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 12 Aug 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 728." I'm way behind in correcting these, since I have over 2300 source citations for more than 3500 individuals! But the best benefit in turning my attention back to my own family has been the additional investigation I've needed to do to fill in the holes in my research. Two recent examples come to mind:
In deciding on my research subjects for my case study and kinship determination project, it made sense for me to choose my own family, since I've been doing research on them for over 30 years. And over the years, I've collected some unique original records - such as the original patient files for my great-grandfather Henry Hickox Chase, who died in the Traverse City State Hospital in 1940. (I asked for and received those records in 1985, before today's privacy laws kicked in!)
In looking at my own Legacy database, I'm more than a little horrified at the insufficient (or non-existent) source citations. Source citations like "1880 census of Manistee, Michigan", instead of "1900 U.S. census, Manistee County, Michigan, population schedule, Manistee, enumeration district (ED) 38, sheet 1A, p.218 (stamped), dwelling 2, Stacy Thompson; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 12 Aug 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 728." I'm way behind in correcting these, since I have over 2300 source citations for more than 3500 individuals! But the best benefit in turning my attention back to my own family has been the additional investigation I've needed to do to fill in the holes in my research. Two recent examples come to mind:
Elkhart Daily Review, 7 August 1883, p.3, col. 3-4; digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com: accessed 12 Aug 2012)
In looking for something to prove my theory about my great-great-great grandmother Margaret Goodenow's maiden name, I found this newspaper article in GenealogyBank. My case study is going to be about the value of using newspapers to connect and prove relationships.
And in asking a Salt Lake City researcher to look for my great-great-great grandfather John Hickox's will, I was amply rewarded!
In looking for something to prove my theory about my great-great-great grandmother Margaret Goodenow's maiden name, I found this newspaper article in GenealogyBank. My case study is going to be about the value of using newspapers to connect and prove relationships.
And in asking a Salt Lake City researcher to look for my great-great-great grandfather John Hickox's will, I was amply rewarded!
Medina, Ohio, "Old wills (includes administrators settlements, guardians bonds and inventories) 1820-1836," p.45, John Hickox will, 26 July 1832; FHL microfilm 423,849.
Here is the first page of the will John Hickox wrote in 1832, just after he married Abigail Stanley Scott in Medina County, Ohio. In it he mentions her daughter Louisa Scott, and his daughter Eliza Hickox - thus validating family trees first set down by my grandmother Ruby Reed in the 1940's.
This is only one of the original sources I will cite in my 3-generation Kinship Determination Project.
Here is the first page of the will John Hickox wrote in 1832, just after he married Abigail Stanley Scott in Medina County, Ohio. In it he mentions her daughter Louisa Scott, and his daughter Eliza Hickox - thus validating family trees first set down by my grandmother Ruby Reed in the 1940's.
This is only one of the original sources I will cite in my 3-generation Kinship Determination Project.
These are only two of the great finds I've made during the past year. With 5 months to go until my deadline, who knows what I will find next!!
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