10 Do's and Don'ts of Creating a Family History book

DO say “I’m only redoing a book my father-in-law wrote 40 years ago. How long could that take?”

DON’T be surprised when that turns out to be 8 months.

DO decide to use justified margins after you've finished the main re-edit. It’s fun to re-format a 206 page document.

DO use MS Word. Especially if you are using lots of graphics. Word’s various idiosyncrasies will provide you with hours of pleasure “chasing” pictures around your pages.

DON’T succumb to the thought of throwing yourself out the window when your landscape orientations continually revert to portrait mode upon converting your document to a PDF.

DON’T call the former “bride” asking “Who is this guy next to Aunt Peg in your wedding photo?”

DO ask guests who might remember instead. Then enjoy the expressions on the faces of people whose names you’ve screwed up in the caption.

DON’T wait until you have learned that you can upload a PDF of your original document to Google Drive and save the whole thing as editable text.

DO, instead, spend hours scanning the document to .rtf. (Added benefit: if your scanner is two floors below your office you will do lots of stair-climbing. Probably enough to burn off an entire container of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia.)

And finally,

DO prepare yourself for the hours that have suddenly opened up in your daily schedule once the book is completed - make sure you have at least four more projects in the pipeline!

*This list merely illustrates my personal experience. In no way should the suggestions be construed as actual advice!

Note: To be honest, this was an extremely satisfying project. We printed the hardcover book through lulu.com and received the 22 copies within one week of submission. The copies were distributed at my mother-in-law's memorial service last week. How wonderful it was to see the younger generation excited to learn about their family history!

Mom 2.0 - Mother's Day 2015

It seems appropriate on this Mothers Day of 2015 to reflect on how many changes there have been in my life since Mother's Day 2014. 

First, and most sadly, we lost my husband's sister, Margaret "Peggy" Ross on May 11, 2014. As her beautiful soul left this earth, another came. Our first grandchild, Jack Winchester Hardy, was born on May 13, 2014. 

 

Yesterday we celebrated Jack's first year of life. A beautiful, active, funny, and strong-willed child, Jack brings back memories of the struggles and triumphs Scott and I experienced while raising his mother. Later today, we will enjoy a Mother's Day brunch in Jamestown, Colorado. I'm sure this will evoke memories of the many Mother's Days past. 

Scott's family suffered two more losses after Peggy's passing - his oldest brother, Bill, on Memorial Day, and most recently, his stepmother, Dorothy, on March 5, 2015.  

I retired from full-time teaching in June, which has allowed me to be more present in Jack's life. As he lives 2000 miles away, it has been wonderful to just "up and go" several times in the last year. I like to think my presence during the first  weeks of his life somewhat contributed to the fact he is still here to celebrate his first year. There were some tough times! Looking back on my first months as a grandmother, I recall lots of tears (mine and my daughter's), many phone calls and the ever-present wish to "make it better." This weekend, I am enjoying the fruits of the struggle. Jack is a wonderful little man. 

On October 11, Meghan ddçxccbmarried Andrew Jefts. Even though my mother wasn't there physically (She passed away Dec. 2, 2011), her presence wasthe pail t x. Bb   Optic ewe

6 hours later:

Did you enjoy reading the previous sentence? That "babble" was courtesy of Jack, as I allowed him to "discover" the touchscreen of my iPad. I'm now laying with him as he naps (hopefully for at least an hour) as I finish this post.

As I was saying, on October 11, Meghan married Andrew Jefts. Even though my mother wasn't there physically, her presence was felt. It was a wonderful "mother milestone." Both of our girls are happily married and creating their own families, adding to the blossoms of the fabulous moms that have bloomed on all the branches of our family tree.

Almost all of the matriarchs of the earlier generation have left us. But new souls are arriving! Our younger daughter, Meghan and her husband, Andy are expecting "Baby J" in October.

It's an interesting stage of life - Mom2.0. Building on the success of the past year, I feel confident that all my missteps as a mom will be dimished as I become the newest Omi in the family. 

52 Ancestors #8 / Genealogy Do-Over Week 2: Interview with Omi

One of the first tasks in the Genealogy Do-Over was to interview family members. Sadly, we have almost no one left in my parents' generation to interview. My mother, Doris Lichtenthal Falcone passed away on Dec. 2, 2011. Today she would have been 83 years old.

I spent some time regretting the fact that I didn't embark on my genealogical journey earlier, then remembered a project my daughter Caitlin did while she was in school. Caitlin interviewed her grandmother, her "Omi", about her 1938 journey to America and videotaped the interview to share with the class. Thanks to my son-in-law, Andy, who hooked the VCR up to the new flat screen TV, I was able to view the video last week.  I can’t think of better topic to write about on this day.

Caitlin interviewing her grandmother.

While I am going to share the facts of my mother’s 1938 immigration experience, this post is not about facts. It’s about life. The things that happen to us. The things we can’t control. The manner in which we handle those things makes our life what is – for good, for bad, for the better.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #7 - "Grandmother's Love" - Estelle Byk Kesner

Estelle Byk Kesner

The theme for Week 7 was “Love.” Admittedly, I’m a tad bit behind. Blame that on the Genealogy Do-Over. Oh, and the IRS. I wanted to get our taxes filed in case the Anthem Hackers stole our identity. Looks like we’re safe!! (But this is serious business. Close friends of ours did, indeed, have their info stolen in the Anthem hacking. So I’m not just paranoid.)

My post this week is more about relationships than about genealogical data. A few years ago, my father, Alan Samuel, wrote a few short stories which I put together in a slim volume for family. One story, “Grandmother’s Love” describes the special relationship he had with his maternal grandmother, Estelle Byk Kesner. I've written about Estelle before but am taking this opportunity to further explore the family relationship.

Article in family scrapbook
created by Estelle Byk Kesner

 He writes,

The little newspaper article in the family scrapbook shows that the story of me running away when I was three years old is true. I had an argument with my mother, and I stomped out of the house with the announcement “I’m going to see Nanny.” The notion of the toddler resentfully seeking support from his grandmother is unusual only that in going to see Nanny, I would have to travel from Jamaica, New York, to Brooklyn, a journey of about an hour on the Long Island Railroad.

I have some recollections of that trip, although it may be that what I remember are aspects of the story told to me in later years. I see myself sitting next to the window, the man to my right asking where my grandmother lived.

“In Brooklyn,” I said.

Alan - 3 years old - 1935

The vagueness of the address may be the reason for what happened next, according to the newspaper article. I was taken off the train at the next stop and my father was called from work to pick me up.

That’s the story. The events of the story. What lies behind it is as important, it seems to me, showing something about my relationship with my grandmother that has been clear to me much more in later life.  I obviously had no doubts about the reception I would receive from my grandmother. Complete acceptance and support. Here was a three-year-old who had someone he could count on without question. That is a relationship that I and my sister could count on as children, and that gave us a sense of solid acceptance not only as children then but as people all through life.[1]

Alan continued his story, detailing the special relationship. He was the first grandson and more importantly the first boy born in his grandmother’s family. (Estelle had two daughters, Constance and my grandmother, Hortense.) They spent summers at the Kesner farm and enjoyed many family events at his grandparents’ apartment house on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.

Alan was 16 years old when his beloved grandmother passed away on October 23, 1948.

His life was not without difficulties, many brought about by his own decisions.  He writes about that as well,

It has taken years for me to reconstruct the intimacy that [my sister] and I shared as children, a lesson in relationship that influences decisions I make in later life. I have seen similar circumstances affect the lives of some of my older children. All of this, however, goes back, I believe, to the relationship that my grandmother’s impact on our lives established. It is an impact I would liked to have had on my own grandchildren’s lives, and the failure of the possibility of doing so is one of my greatest regrets.[2]

I read that and immediately thought about the importance of my own grandmothers (Hortense Byk Kesner and Rose Spiegel Lichtenthal) in my life, including my step-father’s mother Vera Stella Falcone and our “adopted” grandmother, Alice Kilsheimer. Then I thought about the incredible influence my mother, Doris Lichtenthal Falcone, had on our children.

As I begin my own “grandmother journey” I hope I will kindle the same feeling – being loved unconditionally – in our grandchildren.

Note - I have searched numerous websites (especially Fulton History and the Brooklyn Newstand)
 trying to locate the source of the clipping shown above. If any reader would like to take on that challenge, I shall be eternally grateful. Week # 5 of the Genealogy Do-over had us working on citing sources and it's driving me crazy that I don't have this information. Maybe it's time for a train ride to NYC? 

---

[1] Samuel, Alan E. Stories from My Life. Comp. Deborah Holman. N.p.: n.p., 2009. Print. A collection of short stories published for private use.

[2] Ibid. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #6 - So Far Away - the Origins of the SAMUEL Surname

This week's 52 Ancestor Challenge was "So Far Away." I have chosen to research my last name as I believe it has Biblical origins. That's pretty far away! In addition, Moshe Jacob Samuel is the furthest ancestor I know of. His son, Lazarus was born in England in 1795.

Commercial websites such as The Internet Surname Database, House of Names, and Behind the Name provide some information, which may or may not be historically accurate. One can also purchase a family crest or a document detailing your family’s surname. I read the information on these sites regarding the ‘Samuel’ surname and they actually do come close to the information I have found in more the “academic” sources. These companies also sell a variety of products with your “family crest” emblazoned on them. I found two widely differently designs during my search. One is described on the Internet Surname Database: “The Coat of Arms is a red field, on a cross between, in the 1st and 4th quarters, a lion rampant, and in the 2nd and 3rd an eagle displayed silver, a rose of the field”[1] Another had a pair of squirrels facing each other. I am choosing to believe this to be our family crest– we are all a bit “squirrely”!!

There are a few different reasons that surnames came to be. One is that as communities got larger, surnames were used to distinguish between people with the same given name. Another is that last names became necessary when governments began taxing its citizens. I found this explanation, specific to Jewish last names (and the practice of patronymics) very helpful:

When talking about Jewish family names…it is important to keep one fact in mind: until the late 18th or early 19th century, very few Jews had such names at all. Every Jew...had a Jewish “last name,” but it was a personal one that was not passed on to children, since it was the name of one’s father that was used on ritual occasions. If your name was Boruch and your father’s name was Simcha, you were called up to the Torah as Boruch ben-Simcha; if your name was Rokhl and your father’s name was Dovid, you were mentioned in a ketubah or marriage contract as Rokhl bas-Dovid. But your son Aryeh was called to the Torah as Aryeh ben-Boruch, and your daughter Rivka was written in the ketubah as Rivka-bas-Eliahu (if that was the name of Rokhl’s husband). Such “last names” were one-generational.[2]

I've read in numerous sources that Jews generally didn't have surnames until forced to do so by various governments. I’m still not quite clear on that and need to do more research in this area.

The name was first used as a given name by the Semitic (Jewish) peoples and later spread to use by other ethnic groups. There was even a ship named Samuell that brought immigrants to America in the 17th century!

In a 2005 monograph, written by R.L. Samuell[3], I learned the first appearance of the proper (given) name Samuel was in the Old Testament book of the Bible, “The First Book of Samuel.” This Samuel is thought to have lived in the Eleventh century B.C. According to Biblical tradition, Samuel’s mother, Hannah was distraught because she couldn't have children. She prayed that, should she give birth to a healthy child she would dedicate him to God’s service and name him Samuel, which in Hebrew, means “Heard of God.” Her prayers were answered (“heard”) and she indeed named her son. Samuel. This son went on to become one of ancient Israel’s greatest leaders.

Eventually, the name began to be used as a surname as a result of the naming practice of patronymics. This is a naming practice where the child is named after the father, taking the father’s first name as a surname to distinguish him from others with same first name. For example, ‘John Samuel’ meaning ‘John, son of Samuel’. The variant ‘Samuelson’ is also evidence of this practice.

The earliest appearance of ‘Samuel’ as a surname seems to be in Great Britain and dates from the 12th century.  Adolfus Samuel may be the first known recording of the name in 1160, found in the Danelaw Rolls of Lincolnshire, England.[4] [5] It was often spelled ‘Samwel’ as shown in a 13th century census listing a ‘Matilda Samwel.’

“First found in Cornwall where they held a family seat from early times. The family name first appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their Subjects.” [6]

Over the years many variations of the name appeared. Some may be to due changing pronunciations. For instance, pronouncing the ‘w’ as ‘u’, changing ‘Samwell’ to ‘Samuell.’ Others may be due to the standardization of spelling when the King James Version of the Bible was printed in 1611. Dropping the double letter may have been a way to save on type-setting costs. ‘Samuell’ then becomes ‘Samuel.’ Recorded variations of the surname include: Samwell, Samuel, Samuell, Samway, Samuels, and others. (I've written about the ‘Samuel’ vs. ‘Samuels’ issue in a previous post.)

From Ancestry.com, I learned that the name may be found in many cultures including: English, Scottish, Welsh, French, German, Dutch, Hungarian, Jewish and even South Indian[7]. A Greek variation is Samouelidis. I've met a woman with the last name of Samuelian. The Dictionary of American Family Names simply says, “English and Jewish: patronymic from Samuel.”[8]

Many people assume that everyone with the last name of ‘Samuel’ is Jewish. In my experience, I have met more African-Americans with that surname than Jews. This may be due to Anthony Samuell, Sr. (<1658-1731), who is credited as being the founder of the Samuel family in Virginia and southeastern United States. A probable great-grandson of Sir William Samwell of Northamptonshire (Great Britain), Anthony had nine known children. When he died in 1729, Anthony owned two plantations and 400 acres of other land. He was a planter and a slaveholder. It makes sense to me that many of those slaves would have taken on the Samuel last name. (R.L. Samuell)

There is another reason to dispute the association of ‘Samuel’ as being only a Jewish surname, especially for those with English ancestry. On July 18, 1290 the King of England, Edward I, ordered all Jews to leave his kingdom by November 1. The banishment persisted until the middle of the 17th century. During those 400 or so years there are many documented instances of people living their lives in England, with the surname ‘Samuel’. They were certainly not Jewish.

There is another, completely different theory about the origin of the ‘Samuel’ surname. Some believe the surname has a Viking origin. As explained by R.L. Samuell, the name could have been an “…Englishing of the Norse word ‘summeral’…” which means ‘summer Viking.’ Samuell, however, offers no specific proof of that theory other than stating that “…some have speculated…” on the theory.

I did find a blog post by an Edward Samuell^[9] who supports the Viking theory.

“I have a difficult time with the surname Samuel coming from the Hebrew. I would transliterate Samuel from Hebrew as SHMUEL. The "sh" in Hebrew is an entirely different letter from the ‘s’… I do not know when in history the transliteration of Shmuel became Samuel, but I believe it occurred after Samuel, Samuell, or Samwell began to appear in English records like the 13th Century. I firmly believe for this reason that the origin of the surname Samuel in England has a viking origin as outlined in the R.L. Samuell article.”

In another forum, I found the surname ‘Samuel’ identified as a Sephardic (Jewish) name. This poster, Harry Stein[10], stated that the surname “…has been identified by the Holy Office of the Catholic Church of Spain as a Sephardic (Jewish) name." A visit to the website Sephardim.com provided a listing of 15 different sources that credit ‘Samuel’ as a Sephardic Jewish name.[11] Three of these references have been placed on my “to-do” list for further investigation as they related to the Samuel name in London where my family definitely came from.

So it seems the Samuel surname has a long and storied history.

Born a Samuel, with almost no relationship with my father, I was eager to change my name when I married into the Holman family. Deborah Joan Holman. Sounded okay to me. Somehow, when I filled out all those forms, I forgot. I've been Deborah Samuel Holman for almost 32 years now! As my daughter, Meghan says, “Everything happens for a reason.” Previous to my father’s passing in 2008, we repaired our relationship (for the most part anyway) and, even more important – it will be easier for future genealogists to trace our line!

---

[1] "Last Name: Samuel." The Internet Surname Database. N.p., 14 Feb. 2015. Web. 14 Feb. 2015. <http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/samuel>

[2] Philologos. "How Did Jews Choose Their Last Names?" The Jewish Daily Forward. N.p., 9 July 2008. Web. 14 Feb. 2015. <http://forward.com/articles/13721/how-did-jews-choose-their-last-names-/>

[3] Samuell, R. L. "Monograph: Surname Samuel." N.p., 21 May 2005. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.

[4] "Samuels Family History | Find Genealogy Records & Family Crest." Samuels Family History | Find Genealogy Records & Family Crest. N.p., 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2015. <http://www.archives.com/genealogy/family-history-samuels.html>

[5] "Last Name: Samuel." The Internet Surname Database. N.p., 14 Feb. 2015. Web. 14 Feb. 2015. <http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/samuel>.

[6] "Samuel Surname History." Samuel Surname History. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2015. <https://www.houseofnames.com/Samuel-history?A=54323-292>.

[7] "Samuel Family History." Samuel Name Meaning & at Ancestry.com. N.p., 14 Feb. 2015. Web. 14 Feb. 2015. <http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=samuel>.

[8] Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford, UK: Oxford UP, 2003. Print.

[9] Samuell, Edward. "Re: The Origin of the Surname Samuel ?" Re: The Origin of the Surname Samuel ? N.p., 23 Aug. 2004. Web. 26 Oct. 2013.

[10] Stein, Harry. "Samuel as a Sephardic Name." Samuel as a Sephardic Name. N.p., 25 Dec. 2001. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. <http://genforum.genealogy.com/samuel/messages/243.html>

[11] "Sephardic Names Search Engine." Sephardim.com. N.p., 14 Feb. 2015. Web. 14 Feb. 2015. <http://www.sephardim.com/namelist.shtml?

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #5 My father, Alan Edouard Samuel

Again this week I have combined the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge with Thomas MacEntee’s Genealogy Do-Over. Week 5 of the Do-Over had us focusing on building a research toolbox and on citing sources. My poor citing skill was one of the main reasons I decided to participate in the do-over. I had about 950 people in my “tree” some of whom I simply exported from other people’s trees. But, most crucial was the fact that I had many, many facts attached to people and I had no idea where the information came from. I also had many “holes” where I was missing information.

The theme for Week #5 of 52 Ancestors is “Plowing Through.” That is exactly how I have been feeling- "plowing through" research related to my father, adding it to my research log (Week #3 – Research Logs), carefully tracking my research attempts (Week #4 – Tracking Searches) and meticulously (hopefully correctly), citing the source of each fact before adding it to my genealogy software, RootsMagic.

I chose my father for a few reasons. One: The Do-Over had me start with myself. That was the focus of my last post. Then I moved to my father. Two: I have pretty much finishing gathering the vital stats for my father. 3: My father actually was a farmer. Truthfully, more of a farmer-wanna-be! So, here goes:

My father (center, wearing white pants) at the reunion he organized for his 75th birthday in 2007.
His sister, Jessica is to the left of him. 7 of his 9  kids were there.That's me in the turquoise shirt and weird print skirt.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #4 - "Closest to Your Birthday" - ME!!!

The theme this week is to write about an ancestor closest to your birthday. I am simultaneously participating in the Genealogy Do-Over. Week #2 of the Do-Over had us "interview" ourselves  and then write a biography. I decided to combine the two tasks and write about MYSELF.

WARNING: THIS IS A LONG POST. I won't be offended if you decide not to read it :-)

I could have written "just the facts, Ma'am" but - that's not my style. If I was going to write about myself, I wanted the reader to learn who I am, what I am about. After all, that's what I aspire to in my family history research. I want to "know" the person and a listing of vital statistics just doesn't cut it.

So - if you have the time - make yourself a cup of tea or coffee...pour yourself a beer or a glass of wine. Sit down and find out who I am.

Oh - and there aren't any pictures - sorry - I figured the post was long enough!!

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #3 - Sophie Weiss Spiegel - A Strong Woman

Sophie as a young girl

Sophie Weiss was my maternal great-grandmother. Although she was quite wealthy at points in her life, I knew things had not always been easy thanks to stories my mother had shared with me. I also have many unanswered questions about Sophie’s life.

Genealogy Do-Over: Step #2 - Where I'm at now

Topic: Setting Research Goals

As Week #2 closes, I have made some decisions:

1) I will think of the Do-Over weeks as steps instead of weeks.

2) I will recreate my tree, beginning with me

3) As I add each new person to the tree, I will :

• gather, scan/photograph, record and file all documents I have for the individual
• use the research log to track what I have done
• enter information into RootsMagic, completing citations as noted on log
• complete the "to-do" list as I go along - these will become research goals in the future

4)  As the Do-Over progresses, I will review recent work and incorporate the new skills/techniques.

Doing all the above for one individual, then moving to the next person, rather doing a global sort/reorganize seems to be a better match for me. I need to see the results from applying my newly learned (relearned) skills. 

Here's a Before and After of my digital files for my 3rd great-grandfather, Aaron Lazarus Samuel:

BEFORE

You'll notice a few things from this reorganization:

1.  There are more files in the AFTER folder. That's because I went through ALL my digital folders and moved all relevant files to this new folder. 
2. There's a shorter path to get to Aaron's folder.
3. The FIRST file in the AFTER folder is the Genealogy Research Log for this person. I put an underscore _ as the first character to force it to the top (Learned this from a Do-Over post!)
4. The old folder for Aaron (inside the HOLD Genealogy folder) is now colored red. I used Folder Maker to differentiate this finished folder from the others.(Learned about the Folder Maker program from the Do-Over.) Once my Do-Over is completed and I'm sure I don't need the old information, I'll delete the old folders.

Aaron Samuel Folder -AFTER

HOLD Genealogy folder - AFTER

Topic: Conducting Self Interview

RootsMagic has a pretty comprehensive list of facts you can associate with each person in the database. After entering myself into my new file, I completed as many of the facts as were applicable to my life. This went fairly quickly as I wasn't slowed down by the tedious completion of citations. The only citation I used was "Personal Knowledge!" On my to-do list, I listed the need to the acquire the documents related to my life 

I did enter the names of my parents, my direct paternal ancestors (the men only), my step-dad and my siblings as I knew I was going to focus on my 3rd Great-Grandfather, Aaron Lazarus Samuel and my step-dad, Alfonse Falcone for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge.

Topic: Conducting Family Interviews

So much for watching the video of my Mom. We recently got a new flat-screen TV and apparently my husband hasn't hooked up the VCR! I am also going to resend the interview questions I originally sent out years ago. This time, I will expand the list of recipients to my cousins as well as others who may have relevant information to contribute. This will have to wait until I return from my vacation. 

Hopefully, I will be rested and reinvigorated, ready to resume the Do-Over!

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #2 - Alfonse Falcone - King (of the family, malapropisms, and the bad joke.)

Alfonse Falcone at a New Haven hockey game 

This week's topic was somewhat difficult - King? I wasn't sure who in our family best fit that title. I decided my step-father, Alfonse (Alphonse) Falcone best fit the bill. "Alfie" entered my life when he met my mother shortly after her divorce in 1962. My father had left my mother with four little girls to raise, ranging in age from 7 (me) to 1. As my mother (Doris Lichtenthal) told me, "Once we (she and Al) met we were inseparable." By 1968, they had a son, had married and set about raising my sisters and brother, along with Al's three children from his previous marriage. In my opinion. Alfie was a "king" of a man- a lesser man would never have taken on such a challenge.

Genealogy Do-Over: Week #2 - THE PLAN

Topics:

1) Setting Research Goals
I decided not to focus on making any goals specifically related to individuals. Presently, my goal is to clean up the mess I have created over the past few years: information w/o sources cited, multiple databases, several folders of duplicate files and - most annoying of all - no particular file organization. I have already found inconsistent information on the very  FIRST person whose files I chose to work on. Once identified, I am adding these "inconsistencies" to my new "To-Do" excel spreadsheet.
(Thanks, Eileen Coulter for posting Thomas MacEntee's Genealogy Research Log.xls to the Do-Over's FB Files page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/genealogydoover/527506504058678/)

This process is going to take quite a while. I spent the better part of yesterday just cleaning up my 3rd Great-grandfather's folder!

 2) Conducting Self Interview
After creating a brand-new file in RootsMagic, I "interviewed" myself. I can ramble on for hours, so to keep focused, I simply used the "Fact Type" options available in RootsMagic (Birth, Education, Residence, Marriage, etc.) The options available pretty much sum up one's lifespan. Hopefully, I have a few good years left and will remember to continually add facts to my my file as they occur.

3) Conducting Family Interviews
Sadly, both my parents are gone and pretty much every aunt and uncle as well. A few years back, I sent interview questions to my 10 siblings - step-sibs included. I got back 3! I plan to resend to the others again. What I'm really looking forward to is tonight. Several years ago my oldest daughter interviewed my Mom on video. I plan to revisit that video this evening. Mom passed away 3 years ago, so that video is pretty special.

So - that's my plan this week. Let's see what I accomplish!

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #1 -Aaron Lazarus Samuel - A Fresh Start

I only made it to Week 18 of last year's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks". (I have all kinds of excuses, but I'll spare you the experience of listening to me whine.) I'm going to try again. This year I'm combining the 52 Weeks challenge with Thomas MacEntee's "Genealogy Do-Over."

For 2015, there are weekly themes associated with each of the 52 weeks. Appropriately, Week One is "A Fresh Start." So - who to choose?? I decided to choose my 3rd Great-Grandfather, Aaron Lazarus Samuel , who was the first of my father's direct line to arrive in the United States. I checked last year's blog posts for any mention of Aaron. Turns out he was the first post in last year's 52 Ancestor's challenge!! Come on! Seriously? Yup - last year I chose the "ancestor" by closest birth-date to the posting date. Aaron was born on January 4, 1824.

What to do.....? I'm sticking with Aaron. This post will focus on his "fresh start" in the United States as well as an opportunity to revisit and "do-over" my previous research related to him.

So here goes.......

Genealogy Do-Over: Week One - January 1-8 - My Golden Rules

Here's my Progress this first week:

The first thing I did was create "My Golden Rules of Genealogy"

My Golden Rules of Genealogy:

1. Schedule a set time to work - no less than 30 minutes a session
2. Be consistent
3. Touch it ONCE! Put it where it should go - permanently
4. Use a research log - use Apps
5. Create To-Do lists to avoid getting distracted 
6. keep it handy as I research
7. Look at the whole picture - go deeper
8. Remember "Pickholtz' Rules" (Israel Pickholz' rules to verify data)
9. Share...and ask for help
10. Don't quit - it's OK to skip a "work-date"

I then began to think about the three topics posed this week:

1. Setting Previous Research Aside

• I decided to leave all hard copies, binders, etc. where they are
• I renamed my genealogy folder as "Hold Genealogy" and created a new one in preparation for what I find during the Do-Over.
• I created a new file on RootsMagic and started inputting info beginning with myself.

2. Preparing to Research

• Have a plan - before beginning a research session, I will determine my "problem"/objective/goal
• Have RootsMagic open
• Have Evernote open (use research template on Evernote)

3. Establishing Base Practices and Guidelines

I am adopting Thomas' suggestions (Thomas MacEntee of Hack Genealogy is the originator of this Do-Over):

• track all work, even dead ends, negative evidence and non-productive searches 
• cite sources, even if in a rudimentary manner to note the “what, where and when” information about a record 
• make the “first pass the only pass” which means slow down and spend as much time as needed on a document or source and wring every bit of information out of it.

I'm a little overwhelmed by the process. But, I'll hang in there and see how it goes.

Next Week's Topics:

 1) Setting Research Goals, 2) Conducting Self Interview, and 3) Conducting Family Interviews

NEW YEAR – NEW (?) RESOLUTIONS!

Last year, I participated in the blog challenge “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.” posed by Amy Johnson Crow (http://www.nostorytoosmall.com/posts/category/52-ancestors-challenge/). The idea was to post about an ancestor every week. I took up the challenge for two reasons: to share some of the research I had gathered over the past few years and to help me concentrate on one person at a time.

I made it to week 18 then lost my focus when my grandson (and summer) arrived. So, I’m trying again this year! In addition, I am participating in the Genealogy Do-Over (http://www.geneabloggers.com/announcing-genealogy-doover/) organized by Thomas MacEntee.

The “Do-Over” is a 13 week “program” with tasks designed to help participants develop a “firm foundation in genealogy and family history research skill building.” For those of us who began our “genealogical journey” years ago, this is a great opportunity to review our past work and ensure we are using “best practices.” I hope to improve my skills in the areas of citing sources, keeping better records of my searches, cleaning up my digital files and verifying my research is accurate.

Let's see how 2015 plays out!!