Family Tree Circles Blog

Abundant Genealogy Week #45: Genealogy Speakers

2012-11-11T14:53:46+01:00

Sorry, playing catch up here. Got a few weeks behind, but I want to keep things in sequence.

Week 45: Genealogy Speakers. Which genealogy speaker has left the biggest impression on you? What is it about that speaker that you like the most? What is his or her general focus? Does this person speak at regional or national conferences? Share why other genealogists should attend this speaker�s sessions.

Write a journal on FamilyTreeCircles about your favorite genealogy speaker.

http://www.familytreecircles.com/ejournal.php

When you do, please put �[52 Weeks]� in the journal title somewhere so I can be sure to see it and feature it right here in this post. (I�m switching to a standard thing to put in the title, which will make it easier).

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy � �by� � Amy Coffin � �is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2012) that invite genealogists and others to discuss resources in the genealogy community including websites, applications, libraries, archives, genealogical societies and more.

Abundant Genealogy Week #44: Genealogy Conferences

2012-11-11T14:49:09+01:00

Sorry, playing catch up here. Got a few weeks behind.

Week 44: Genealogy Conferences. What was your best genealogy conference experience? Why is it so memorable in your mind? Who hosted the event? What did you learn from this experience? How does it impact your genealogy research today?

Write a journal on FamilyTreeCircles about Genealogy Conferences

http://www.familytreecircles.com/ejournal.php

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy �by� Amy Coffin �is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2012) that invite genealogists and others to discuss resources in the genealogy community including websites, applications, libraries, archives, genealogical societies and more.

Permission Required for Cemetery Photos?

2012-10-22T15:02:00+01:00

While it may seem like tombstones are public things that should be free for photographing, that may not always be the case.

Apparently, in some cemeteries, photography is not permitted. It's not an issue so much of the photographs themselves, but of what you're allowed to do on private property...

Cemetery photos: permission required?
the standard suggestion for photography in any cemetery is good advice regardless: get the rules of the road in advance � know if you need permission, whether there�s a fee, and what the hours are so you don�t accidentally get locked inside the gates.via: www.legalgenealogist.com

So what this comes down to is not ownership of the images of tombstones, but the photography activity on private property.

A museum may prohibit photography of artwork that they don't actually own the rights to.
The artist may own the copyrights of that image.

A live performance venue may prohibit video recording of performances.
The band owns the copyright of the performance itself.

I wonder if, from a legal standpoint, there is ever copyright ownership of the actual tombstone image itself? Is it a work of art?

Fascinating subject.

Abundant Genealogy Week #43: Memorable Genealogy Moment

2012-10-21T21:36:07+01:00

Week 43: Memorable Genealogy Moment .�Think back to when you first started researching your family history. Is there a memorable early genealogy moment that stands out in your mind? Describe this event or discovery and how it impacted your research going forward.

Write a journal on FamilyTreeCircles about your memorable genealogy moment.

http://www.familytreecircles.com/ejournal.php

My Memorable Genealogy Moment

The moment that had the most impact on me, and what is probably the earliest genealogy memory that I have is from when I was a kid. My grandfather signed up my sister and me for a lifetime membership to the Massachusetts Mayflower Society.

30 years later, I’ve tried to do the same for my own children but alas, the Society has become much more strict on their application criteria, and I must fill in many blanks with primary sources, some of which I am afraid are not available.

While I do recognize the importance of sources, this saddens me because I feel this might give them the same jolt of excitement that I got so many years ago that has kept me interested in my own family history.

My greatest genealogy accomplishment [52 Weeks - Week 42]

2012-10-14T15:10:53+01:00

I don’t think this isn’t quite what was expected for this week’s prompt, but I’ll have to go with FamilyTreeCircles as my greatest genealogy accomplishment.

Back about 10 years ago, I had no idea what would become of the small project that started out of my own interest in my family history. It has grown to nearly 100,000 members, many of whom have broken through brick walls and found distant cousins sharing the same research. There have even been long lost family members who were reunited thanks to posts in FamilyTreeCircles.

Personally, I have found many Gingras cousins who have provided me with information that I never would have found otherwise, and I’ve been able to do the same in return for more than a few.

Most importantly, I’ve made several online friends, many of you, who have participated here over the years, lent a helping hand (or several), and have made this community what it is.

It’s been an honor and privilege to build and maintain this website. Thank you!

Scott

This post is in response to the Abundant Genealogy blogging prompts. To write your own, see here for information…

Abundant Genealogy Week #42: Biggest Genealogy Accomplishment :: FamilyTreeCircles.com Genealogy
I�m sorry we missed last week�s prompt, but let�s pick up this week with a fun one. Blow your own horn, do some crowing. What�s your biggest accomplishment in your genealogy research?via: www.familytreecircles.com

Abundant Genealogy Week #42: Biggest Genealogy Accomplishment

2012-10-14T14:10:38+01:00

I’m sorry we missed last week’s prompt, but let’s pick up this week with a fun one. Blow your own horn, do some crowing. What’s your biggest accomplishment in your genealogy research?

Write a journal on FamilyTreeCircles about your biggest genealogy accomplishment.
http://www.familytreecircles.com/ejournal.php

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy by Amy Coffin�is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2012) that invite genealogists and others to discuss resources in the genealogy community including websites, applications, libraries, archives, genealogical societies and more.

Genealogy Abundance Week 40: Wild Card

2012-09-30T20:19:35+01:00

Week 40: Wild Card. Is there something for which you are thankful that has not been discussed yet? Share your genealogical abundance on a personal level. How does this person/item/group/memory or other entity impact your family history?

Write a journal on FamilyTreeCircles about something you’re thankful for.
http://www.familytreecircles.com/ejournal.php

When you do, please put “[52 Weeks]” in the journal title somewhere so I can be sure to see it and feature it right here in this post. (I’m switching to a standard thing to put in the title, which will make it easier).

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy created by�Amy Coffin�is a series of weekly blogging prompts courtesy of�GeneaBloggers�for genealogists and others to discuss resources in the genealogy community including websites, applications, libraries, archives, genealogical societies and more.

What is Genealogy?

2012-09-30T19:10:20+01:00

#cuteness

Genealogy Abundance, Week 39: Society Journal or Quarterly

2012-09-23T23:23:13+01:00

Week 39: Society Journal or Quarterly. Share with us your favorite genealogy society journal or quarterly publication. How long have you been reading it? Which group publishes it? Why is this publication one of your favorites? How has is helped you research your family history?

Write a journal on FamilyTreeCircles about your favorite genealogy society journal or quarterly publication.

http://www.familytreecircles.com/ejournal.php

When you do, please put “Genealogy Society Journal” in the journal title somewhere so I can be sure to see it and feature it right here in this post!

(Mine is the Mayflower Quarterly)

FamilyTreeCircles Newsletter 16 Sept 2012

2012-09-17T07:49:38+01:00

This week I’m realizing that we are approaching some big FamilyTreeCircles milestones. We’ll soon be at 100,000 members, and 50,000 journals. We should reach those levels by the end of 2012.

And that’s not even considering the 28,000 comments and 27,000 private messages that flow through FamilyTreeCircles. Wow.

In this newsletter, I’d like to acknowledge the people who give so much to the FamilyTreeCircles community. Thanks to everyone who not only posts journals but are also so very welcoming and helpful to other members.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy

Last week’s writing prompt was a tough one, and we only had a few takers. See here for the recap of week 37.

Genealogy Abundance, Week 37: State Archives
via: www.familytreecircles.com

This week promises to be a lot more fun.

Week 38: Funny Ancestor Stories. Tell us a funny ancestor story that stands out in your mind. When did you first hear the story? Do other family members tell different versions? Does this tale play a large part in your family tree?

Create a journal and write about this week’s topic.

See here for more information.

Genealogy Abundance, Week 38: Funny Ancestor Stories
via: www.familytreecircles.com

FamilyTreeCircles Highlights

FamilyTreeCircles member Kerbent has an interesting mystery that she has written up in these two posts. She’s developed some interesting theories and I’d love for some experienced genealogists to give her some help on these. If you could lend a hand, please do. I’ll feature any developments in a future newsletter.

Two Mary Ebbotts help need to disentangle them
There are two Mary Ebbotts in the 1841 Census, and both are living with relations. I have managed to solve the identity of one of them but the other who must somehow be related is a complete mystery to me…via: www.familytreecircles.com

Developing a working theory to reconcile the Mystery of the two Mary Ebbotts
Mary Ferrett is my fourth great-grandmother she married Philip Upton Ebbott in 1804, in Trenglos, Cornwall thus becoming Mary Ebbott. As explained in a previous post entitled Two Mary Ebbotts help need to disentangle them I have been trying to distinguish which of the two Mary Ebbotts that appeared in the 1841 was my ancestor. To recap…via: www.familytreecircles.com

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you on FamilyTreeCircles.

Best,
Scott

p.s. As always, your likes on our Facebook page is always appreciated. We’ve grown to over 2000 fans. Like us here: FamilyTreeCircles on Facebook

The FamilyTreeCircles Newsletter is delivered to more than 12,000 people on Sunday afternoons (and only to those who request to receive it). To get this newsletter in your email inbox and to make sure you don’t miss it, subscribe here.

Genealogy Abundance, Week 38: Funny Ancestor Stories

2012-09-16T21:24:13+01:00

This week’s writing prompt should be a lot more fun than last week’s dry topic of state archives. Thanks to the few of you who mustered up journals on that.

Write a journal on FamilyTreeCircles about your favorite state archive.

http://www.familytreecircles.com/ejournal.php

When you do, please put “Funny Ancestor Stories” in the journal title somewhere so I can be sure to see it and feature it in this week’s FamilyTreeCircles blog post about it.

“Funny Ancestor Stories” Journals From FamilyTreeCircles Members

FUNNY ANCESTOR STORY :: FamilyTreeCircles.com Genealogy
Great Uncle Bill was born in Ireland in the late 1800s He arrived in New Zealand about 1920 with a number of his siblings and they established themselves in various parts of NZ Most of them settled near Wellington but great uncle Bill stayed in Christchurch so in all my life I think I only met him half a dozen times The first time I met him he gave me 2/- (20 cents) so he was forever embedded in my mind!! I loved him. He was very quiet. Tall and thin, he would bend right down to talk to me ...via: www.familytreecircles.com

Funny family stories :: FamilyTreeCircles.com Genealogy
My grandfather was born in 1878 and lived to be 106. As I was growing up he would sit with me on the porch or in front of the fireplace and tell me stories of the Civil War. I was in Junior High before I realized that Grandpa Eubanks had not actually ‘lived’ those stories, they were ones he had been told by uncles and other members of the family. The best one was about his father and grandfather burying all the family valuables and money under a big rock shaped like a frog out in the pasture. Wh…via: www.familytreecircles.com

More Whoppers Families Tell You :: FamilyTreeCircles.com Genealogy
Just reading about Sue Graham’s post regarding the whoppers families tell brought to mind a whopper in our family. I really can’t mention names, because I am sworn to secrecy. But a certain person’s great grandmother was so secretive about her age that she went so far as to cut up her marriage certificate and hide the pieces inside her handbag, never ever leaving the bag out of her sight. No ammount of pleading or trickery would loosen her lips as to her age. Then on the 7 September i…via: www.familytreecircles.com

Funny Ancestor Story: James Kinsey Brown :: FamilyTreeCircles.com Genealogy
When my Great, Great Grandfather, James Kinsey Brown, returned from fighting in the Civil War, he married and had four daughters. He named them Annie ATLANTA, CAROLINE Jane, Fannie MISSOURI, and Sally VIRGINIA for wars he fought in.via: www.familytreecircles.com

Genealogy Abundance, Week 37: State Archives

2012-09-11T23:15:44+01:00

Here’s this week’s challenge:

Week 37: State Archives Which state (or federal or government) archives repository is your favorite? Have you been there in person? What does their website offer to visitors? Share any advice you can to potential visitors who may visit the archives in the future.

Write a journal on FamilyTreeCircles about your favorite state archive.

http://www.familytreecircles.com/ejournal.php

When you do, please put “State Archives” in the journal title somewhere so I can be sure to see it and feature it in this week’s FamilyTreeCircles blog post about it.

This week’s journals

Indiana State Archives for Perry County, Indiana, USA :: FamilyTreeCircles.com Genealogy
State Archives hold a multitude of mysteries and answers to many of a genealogier’ questions; but local county ones do, also. In this journal update, I want to tell about the amazing genealogical library in the Tell City, Indiana, USA,library and the curator of the genealogy/history library – Evelyn Lasley. In 2009, my youngest grandson and I were returning from Louisville, Kentucky, and since we were on no strict time schedule, I decided to return thru Southern Indiana, and visit my sister, S…via: www.familytreecircles.com

STATE ARCHIVES – New Zealand :: FamilyTreeCircles.com Genealogy
this week’s ‘Abundant Genealogy’ topic is STATE ARCHIVES ... HOWEVER for New Zealand we will call it REGIONAL ARCHIVES ... New Zealand is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses, the North and South Islands and numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island nations of New…via: www.familytreecircles.com

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 35 Genealogy Friends

2012-08-26T18:53:55+01:00

Thanks to everybody who participated in week 34, Genealoy Challenges.

Here's week 35:

Week 35: Genealogy Friends. Genealogy friends are wonderful people. Don't you agree? Tell us about a genealogy friend in your life. How did you meet? Do you share any common ancestors or research interests?

Just open up a new journal and write about whatever comes to mind related to this week's questions.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy created by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts courtesy of GeneaBloggers for genealogists and others to discuss resources in the genealogy community including websites, applications, libraries, archives, genealogical societies and more.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 34, Genealogy Challenges

2012-08-19T13:53:46+01:00

Thanks to everybody who participated in week 33. I hope you found that interesting and fruitful.

Continuing on with the blogging prompts, here's week 34:

Week 34: Genealogy Challenges. Which genealogy challenge has given you the best sense of accomplishment? What was the research problem you had to hurdle? What steps did you take that led to success? Do you have any words of encouragement for others who are facing their own genealogy challenges?

Just open up a new journal and write about whatever comes to mind related to this week's questions.

FamilyTreeCircles member Ngairedith is ahead of the game this week and has already posted one:

Ngairedith's Genealogy Challenge

52 Weeks of Blogging Abundance: Week 33

2012-08-11T14:15:50+01:00

This past week, I had a phone conversation with Thomas Macentee, a professional genealogist, speaker, and otherwise a really great guy from Chicago, Ill. Thomas runs the excellent website and service, Geneabloggers.com, which is a network of over 2000 Genealogy blogs. (I'm a member with my own genealogy blog here on FamilyTreeCircles.)

I contacted Thomas to see how we might work together to help foster the growth of more genealogy bloggers.

The first thing we came up with is that Thomas was kind enough to allow me to use the 52 Weeks of Blogging Abundance genealogy blogging prompts. Every week there is a new topic to act as inspiration for a blog post, or to simply think about and reflect on in your own genealogy research.

As FamilyTreeCircles is essentially a blogging platform (which is just a place to write online), I thought it would be fun for people to use these weekly prompts here on FamilyTreeCircles.

We're more than halfway through 2012, and we'll be starting on week 33. But that's ok. There isn't really a sequence here, just a new idea every week.

Week 33: Ancestor Legend. What is your favorite ancestral legend or family lore? Who originally told the story and what was the claim? Have you been able to prove the story true or false? What steps did you take to do so?

Just open up a new journal and write about whatever comes to mind related to this week's questions.

I'll be posting these blogging prompts here each weekend for the upcoming week. I'll also be including these in the weekly newsletter. If you'd like to get these prompts in your email along with other newsletter info, make sure you're signed up for the FamilyTreeCircles newsletter.

Looking for Guest Bloggers and Writers for FamilyTreeCircles

2012-08-01T22:10:44+01:00

Here at FamilyTreeCircles, we have a large community of genealogy hobbyists and professionals. Our user base is growing toward 100,000 and we have an opt-in mail list that exceeds 10,000 members.

We're looking for bloggers and genealogy experts who are interested in reaching an audience of genealogy new-comers, enthusiasts, and professionals alike.

Writing for FamilyTreeCircles is a great opportunity to help establish yourself as an expert in the genealogy community.

If you are interested in contributing genealogy-related articles to the FamilyTreeCircles blog and email newsletter, please contact me at scott@familytreecircles.com or through the Private Messaging system on FamilyTreeCircles.com.

Help Support FamilyTreeCircles

2012-07-31T14:00:40+01:00

When I started FamilyTreeCircles nearly a decade ago, I never imagined it would grow to nearly 100,000 members. It's humbling to be able to provide a resource that has brought so many people together in the common interest.

FamilyTreeCircles has always been a labor of love for me, but with the growing membership, usage, continuing to add new features, and fighting spammers, costs grow as well.

What you may not know about me is that as an entrepreneur, I actually run another web startup. This takes 60-80 hours of my time every week, and I have little left for much else. If you're interested, that's a web publishing platform called Shareist. I think it is a great resource for genealogists.

I would never have been able to even get this far without the patience and support of the people who use FamilyTreeCircles every day, and particularly those who volunteer to help moderate the activity. It's truly a wonderful community. I'd like to not only keep things running, but do even more.

For example, one thing that I've tried to start up several times, but have not been able to do so because of the costs is a periodic newsletter with great genealogy stories and content, as well as featuring fun stuff from FamilyTreeCircles members. But the cost of doing so has been prohibitive. I'd love to be able to do this as well as continue to add more features.

From the start, I promised that FamilyTreeCircles would be a free resource and I have no intentions of going back on that. Over the years, I have received generous offers from people that they would be more than willing to pay for this resource.

In response to that, I've finally added a way to do that, for those with the means to do so, while keeping the service free for the rest.

If you enjoy FamilyTreeCircles and want to see it continue on as a strong and independent genealogy resource, I hope you'll consider contributing even a small amount to its upkeep and further development. If you cannot, no hard feelings here.

Go here: FamilyTreeCircles Patronage

Thank you very much!

Scott

Announcing: New User Profiles on FamilyTreeCircles

2011-11-23T18:09:56+01:00

FamilyTreeCircles.com has been around for over 7 years now, and has been in a constant state of development.

I'll be the first to admit that most poorly crafted area of FamilyTreeCircles has been the user profile pages. And as I've been making improvements to the platform, I'd also say that it's been the most neglected.

This week I've taken steps to resolve that with an entirely newly designed user profile.

Your Own Home Page

Your user profile on FamilyTreeCircles is now your genealogy homepage. Your own journals and posts are featured prominently in chronological order, newest first. Until now, your own journals were relegated to a list, and reading them was an exercise in clicking around a lot.

Now your homepage is a very easy-to-read list of all your journals. As you post journals, your latest ones appear at the top.

This makes it very easy for other FamilyTreeCircles members, and even people searching the Internet for the information that you write about, to find and read your journals.

That means more people see your journals, which means that your information and your own queries are seen by more people, resulting in a higher chance that you'll connect with distant cousins and researchers looking for the same ancestors.

Here's what the new profile page looks like:

Hey, This Sounds and Looks Like a Blog

Essentially, your FamilyTreeCircles profile page is a blog. Blog comes from the words Web Log. A blog is quite simply a web page containing a log of your writing. Web log...weblog...'blog.

The writing activity that you do posting Journals on FamilyTreeCircles is no different than that of "bloggers" that we hear so much about.

Now in addition to how your journals were seen before in the activity lists, your information is organized like a blog and you get all the benefits of blogging:

Research: By getting your and your genealogy research out there, people who are researching the same ancestors will find you. You may even break down some brick walls just by posting them for others to find and help you out.
Sharing: Posting your genealogy information helps others, and many times it comes back
Connecting: There are countless connections that people make with distant and lost relatives through publishing a blog.
Community: The genealogy blogging community is a friendly, helpful group of genealogists, professionals and hobbyists alike. By starting a blog of your own
Fun: Writing can be a fun, creative way to express yourself. Some people even think it's therapeutic.

The good news is that just by signing up for FamilyTreeCircles, you now have a blog.

How cool does that make you?

View your new profile here. Or click on the "Your Home" link in the header.

Examples?

Here are a few great FamilyTreeCircles profiles to take a look at for inspiration:

Getting Help on Using FamilyTreeCircles

2011-11-23T12:48:00+01:00

Check out the FAQ page.
Use the contact us form. This is best for issues like password problems, since you cannot use some of the other options without logging in.
Send me a private message.
Drop into the FamilyTreeCircles campfire chat. You can not only chat with me, but with other FamilyTreeCircles members, if they're in there.
If you have a question that you think someone other than the owner of FamilyTreeCircles can answer, comment on this post. That increases the chances of getting a quick answer AND allows other to benefit from your question.

Getting ready for some pretty major changes. And a chance at a Sneak Peek...

2011-11-22T22:29:09+01:00

I've been hard at work on some pretty significant changes here on FamilyTreeCircles, big enough that I want to roll this out a little more carefully than I usually do.

For now, the only noticeable change is the header.

If yours doesn't look like that with the black bar at the top, try holding down the shift key while hitting the reload (or refresh) button on your browser. Or just wait and it'll update eventually.

So what's changing?

I've completely redesigned the user profile page. My goal is to make your user profile the hub of your activity, a much nicer home for you here on FamilyTreeCircles. The default view will be a full view of all your journals, formatted much like a blog. That way, anyone who follows your every post can easily see what you've been writing. If you organize your posts into categories, that will be much more visible. And your Assist! locations and surnames will be featured prominently as well.

In fact, it's going to be a lot like having your own blog, which is where I am headed with this.

And speaking of following, I'll be reintroducing he concept of "follow"ing. By following someone, you will be able to keep track of their new stuff.

When's it coming?

I'm still testing it out, but if you would like a sneak peek, just comment here on this post and I'll turn it on for you.

I'll probably grow impatient and make it available in the next few days, but I'd love to get some feedback first.

Again, just comment below if you'd like to try it out and give me some feedback.

Thanks!