Revisiting My Roots: My System

Clean-Up, ,

As I work through my work from when I was a “baby genealogist,” I’m doing a ton of clean up. I may have written about parts of this before, but I’m going to break down the steps I’m taking to bring my previous research up to the standards I have today. This might sound like a lot of busywork but it is actually quite fun, enlightening, and satisfying to revisit old research.

I have found several errors. Many just errors from not knowing what I was doing early on. Some errors involving attaching the wrong people to the tree or trusting those who researched before me to have analyzed the records fully. And I don’t mean for that to sound as harsh as it probably does. I just mean that none of us know what we are doing when we start out. And as a “baby genealogist,” I didn’t know to not blindly trust what others shared with me. They likely didn’t know any better either… and that’s just how it is, but that’s also how mistakes get made and perpetuated.

But I digress…

As I have been doing this work to clean up my old research, I have found myself following a series of steps. These steps may help you, they may be completely useless to you, but maybe you’ll find a nugget or develop your own series of steps. I am working to mirror my physical binders and my digital folders. Personally, I think this is a good way of ensuring that my research may be preserved. If the binders are well organized and understandable, then my kids are more likely to look at them. I’m not certain my digital items on my laptop, or my genealogical software might make it. My Ancestry tree may. Be sure to set up a “Legacy Contact” person who can take over after your unfortunate demise. (Sorry, did that sound too ominous?) This can be found in your Account Settings.

My current steps, usually in this order, but not necessarily:

  • Choose a binder.
  • The main section should be the couple of that generation. The back is divided for sections for each child (except the one I descend through, they have their own binder). (More on this can be found in a previous blog series.) Make sure there are tabs that label each child’s section.
  • Open my Reunion file. Reunion (and other programs probably) gives each source a unique number. I use this number to label my paper files. This allows me to look sources up by number, but also tells me that that physical source has been entered in my Reunion file. I just write that number on a little sticker (like a garage sale price tag type of sticker) and put it on the upper right corner of the printed document.
  • I have been writing citations for a long time for each of my documents. However, as my understanding of sources and as the genealogical industry grows and evolves, so do my citation styles. So, I next look at the previous citation and update it if necessary. My system for storing the citations has changed over time as well. I do what I call “Touch it Once Citations” where I only write a citation once and then it’s just copy/paste for any articles or blog posts I write that require a citation. I have now added a column to store that Reunion source number. Adding this number tells me that I’ve updated the citation to today’s standards and have added it to Reunion.
  • Once all of the existing documents have been checked, sources updated and logged, I then start picking up any “low-hanging fruit” for the couple and their children. Things like census records I hadn’t gathered yet (in many cases the 1940 and 1950 census weren’t around when I was working on some of these), newspapers and vital records that are now available online. Anything easy that wasn’t easy when I started. And mostly I’m just getting the basics on the children that are not my direct line.
  • For these new sources, downloading them to my computer, writing the citations, entering them in Reunion, adding them to my Ancestry tree, printing them and putting them in the correct location in the binder. I am also labeling the digital files in a way that mirrors my binder system. (Again visit my binder series for details.) I’m adding the source number to the page and putting them in the binder.

Those are the main steps I’m taking right now. I manage to work on this a couple of hours per week around my other life responsibilities.

Once I’m caught up on all of this clean-up I have other steps I plan to take such as:

  • Transcribing documents. Kids these days (‘get off my lawn!’) can’t read cursive… many adults can’t read old or messy cursive.
  • Writing up short biographical sketches that put into narrative form the documents in the binders, a TLDR if you will.
  • Clearing out any old photo copies of indexes, pedigree charts shared with me from other researchers, copies I made from books when I wasn’t sure if it were my family or not, etc. My binders have collected a lot of “chaff” over the years. I need to go through it and clear those out if possible.
  • Updating pedigree charts and family group sheets that I put on the front and back of the binders as kind of a road map to what’s inside.

I hope that gives you some insight into how I’m doing my “baby genealogy” clean-up. And I hope it gives you some ideas on how to handle yours if you’re so inclined. You may decide that you don’t want paper binders. That’s ok. You do you! It’s less stuff to go in the dumpster when the kids take over, that’s for sure. I’m hoping the physical papers will spark interest in my kids. Time will tell.

Adopted Ancestor – Elizabeth Birdwistle

Adopting Ancestors, Research - General, ,

Sometimes, when I want to learn more about a database, like what kind of information it is going to return, I’ll so a search for a name. Any random name will do. But I get tired of “John Smith.” Why does it always have to be a man anyway? So, I’ve gotten into the habit of being a bit more creative with the names I use.

I was doing some research on the different migration groups into Canada and happened upon the British Home Children. England developed a system of shipping orphaned or poor children to Canada to find them homes with families. Similar to the Orphan Train system that happened in the U.S. Some of the children found themselves in good homes and were treated like part of the family, and others, not so much, being treated more like servants or worse.

There is a database at the Library and Archives Canada website that contains information on various British Home Children. (Note: When I first did this research, her name was spelled Birdwistle in the database. A search today on their new site shows the name as “Birdwhistle.” Also, the digital image would not load last time I tried. So much for website “upgrades.”) So here is a screenshot of the old version for Elizabeth Birdwistle’s entry:

So, not only is Elizabeth Birdwistle an orphan who has been shipped off to a whole new land, she also forgot her brother’s picture and was hoping to get it back. I don’t know if she ever did. I don’t know if she ever saw her brother again. But I can tell you that I researched her forward in time and learned some more about her.

Elizabeth was living with the Kempster family in Chicago in 1880. By 1900, the Kempsters had moved to Seattle, but Elizabeth did not go with them. She stayed in Chicago where she lived and worked as a washwoman. She never married. On 18 April 1921, she was crossing the street near her home and was struck by a car and killed. Her death certificate tells the story:

If you can’t read it, it says that the cause of death was “From shock and injuries caused by being struck and knocked down & run over by a Hudson Sedan 5 Passenger while deceased was crossing from West to East on Broadway & Granville Ave.”

She never had children. No one is looking for her. So I check in on her from time to time, finding a new tidbit about her life every now and then.

Have you adopted any ancestors? You should give it a try. It can help learn new things and bring some stories to life for people that may have been forgotten.

Adopted Ancestor – Alice Irene (Sly) Bierman

Adopting Ancestors, Research - General, ,

Alice Irene Sly was my great aunt. She was the daughter of Lucy Long, born in 1910, and was unofficially adopted by Sanford Sly when he and Lucy married in 1913. I didn’t know about this right away. One time, while visiting my mom’s half-sister, she said to me in a semi-hushed tone “you know she’s not Sanford’s, right?” I looked around. First of all, it was just me and my mom there, no one else was around to hear. Secondly, all of the people in this story had died a very long time ago. The last one was Lucy who died in 1980. Why all the whispering? (But I digress.)

Alice contracted tuberculosis at some point. I haven’t been able to figure out exactly when this might have happened. But Sanford, Lucy, Alice, and their son Bill, moved to Buckeye, Arizona, for the benefit of her health. By following them in the Bowling Green, Ohio, city directories, I can tell that they moved sometime between 1934 and 1935. Alice died on 23 August 1938 in Tucson. Her death certificate states that she had been in the state for four years at the time of her death.

Alice met Cleveland Charles Bierman (commonly went by C.C.), also a patient at the hospital in Tucson. They married on 22 August 1936. They did not have any children and she died almost exactly 2 years later.

When Alice died, it was during the Depression. I am not certain what Sanford’s financial situation was, but Alice did not get a tombstone on her grave. I know she was a beloved child so I imagine the cost must have been a challenge for them. This spring, with the help of my mom, we got a tombstone ordered for her. It is set to be installed by October and as soon as it is, I’ll get a photo and will share it.

Even though she is not a direct line ancestor, I have adopted her and research more about her from time to time since she had no descendants who are “looking” for her.

Adopting Ancestors

Adopting Ancestors, Research - General, , , ,

I don’t know about you, but from time to time I find myself adopting ancestors. They are not usually part of my direct family line or maybe not a part of my family at all. I especially feel compelled to adopt someone who did not have any children and therefore there is no one “looking for them.” That’s how I feel about it. With my own ancestors, I’m looking for them in records, books, and cemeteries. These people who did not have children probably don’t have anyone looking for them. So, when I find them, I’m compelled to research and then tell a little bit more of their story.

I have two that I’m going to share in two separate posts. But I’ll give you a bit of background that will probably get repeated.

First, my great-aunt Alice Irene Sly. She is in my family but not a direct ancestor. She died at the age of 27 from tuberculosis. The family moved to Arizona to help her health. She married but never had any children.

Second, Elizabeth Birdwistle. She arrived in Canada as one of the British Home Children, an orphan from England, and sent to Canada to be adopted by a family. She did not marry or have children. She moved to the Chicago area where she died.

I’ll share their stories in the next two posts. I’m curious if you “adopt” ancestors along the way?

Reviewing Assumptions

Clean-Up, , ,

I’m continuing my work to review and clean up my early research. And you know what they say about assumptions…

I had always heard about our “Arizona” family growing up. Sanford and Lucy Sly moved to Buckeye, Arizona, for the benefit of their daughter’s health. I had always thought they settled in Buckeye because they were from Ohio (the Buckeye state). Turns out, they weren’t the first ones to move there. Sanford had aunts and cousins who lived there before he did.

And this makes sense. People don’t often go to a place they’ve never heard of. Usually migrations happen in chains. One person goes (likely because THEY had a friend or family go first) and then the next person in the family goes and so on. Like a chain.

As I was working on some of my genealogy clean-up I’ve been doing, I did some basic research on the siblings of Sanford’s mother, his aunts and uncles. One of Sanford’s aunts, Emma Jane Avery married Andrew Glenn in Wood County, Ohio. They moved to Phoenix, Arizona, sometime between the 1900 and 1910 census.

Andrew died in New Mexico while on a trip in 1926. His widow, Emma, went to New Mexico and accompanied the body home to Phoenix. Emma died in 1927, just a year later. Some of their children lived in Arizona after their parents’ deaths. The daughter Pearl lived in Gila County until her death in 1963. Pearl’s siblings also lived in Arizona, mostly around the Phoenix area. Sanford and the children of Emma would have been first cousins and most likely known to each other. It was quite possibly the fact that he knew family in the area that brought him to Arizona. It is easier to move to a new place when you know someone there already.

So, check your assumptions. And if someone moved to a far off place, check for friends or family members who may have also moved to that area. They did not often go alone.

Birdie Monk Holsclaw IGHR Scholarship

Announcements,

Birdie Monk Holsclaw

This year, the Birdie Monk Holsclaw IGHR Scholarship was awarded to Kaitlyn Pauley. The scholarship is in honor of Birdie who was a friend and mentor to so many in our field.

“Birdie was a regular attendee and lecturer at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR). Her passion for family history and genealogical education inspired everyone. We honor Birdie’s memory by offering this scholarship in her name to continue her mission in helping others to learn and grow as genealogists.”

We would love to have donations to the Birdie Scholarship to keep the mission alive. Birdie was a huge believer in education and this fund helps bring education to genealogists looking to do what Birdie loved, learn and grow as genealogists. Donations for the scholarship are accepted all year round. You can make the tax-deductible donation through IGHR’s PayPal link. If you would rather send a check, the Donations by check should be made payable to the Georgia Genealogical Society, with a memo noting IGHR and the name of the scholarship for which the payment is intended. Please mail checks to the IGHR Scholarship Fund, c/o Georgia Genealogical Society, PO Box 550247, Atlanta, GA  30355-2747. Any amount is helpful show your love for Birdie or your love for education.

If you would like to apply for the scholarship for 2027, apply before January 15, 2027. The link to the form and other information about the scholarship can be found on the IGHR website.

If you can’t make a donation, and you aren’t interested in being a student, you can also help by spreading the word about the scholarship to any societies or local genealogical groups you belong to. There is a digital flyer available here.

Any help you can give is appreciated. Thank you for your support to honor the memory of Birdie!

Seats Still Available in the Farmers Course!

Genealogy Program,

Registration for GRIP Genealogy Institute closes on June 18 so if you’ve been waiting to decide if your farming ancestors might be more exciting than “Just Farmers,” now’s your chance!

I’ve been working on making sure all the information I am planning on sharing is up to date with the latest. Our farmers were more than “Just Farmers” and I hope you’ll come and learn about more ways to learn about their lives.

Click here to read the course outline: https://grip.ngsgenealogy.org/courses/not-just-farmers-records-relationships-and-the-reality-of-their-lives/

Click here to read about the institute in general and to register: https://grip.ngsgenealogy.org

I hope you’ll join us!

PERSI: MemberConnects! with the National Genealogical Society

Genealogy Program

A few weeks ago, I participated in a panel discussion about PERSI (the Periodical Source Index) through the National Genealogical Society’s MemberConnects! event. I invited Dawne Slater, Jeanette Sheliga to join me to discuss PERSI, learn about how to best use it for your research, and how to access the articles it indexes. You can view the video recording on NGS’s YouTube channel here.

I’ve written about PERSI in the past on this blog. The most recent series starts here. But if it has been a while, I hope you’ll watch the video and read the previous blog series. PERSI indexes articles from local genealogical societies’ journals and quarterlies sent in to the Allen County Public Library. In my opinion, PERSI is one of the most underutilized resources available to genealogists. We have become spoiled by the internet and the instant gratification that it often offers. However, IT’S NOT ALL ONLINE, though everyday more and more does become available.

PERSI is an index created by the Allen County Public Library, beginning in the late 1980s. The first versions of PERSI were published volumes. You can still find them in libraries today.

Print volumes of PERSI
Photo by author

I go into more details about PERSI, how to use it, how to get copies of articles, and so on, in my previous series, so I won’t repeat myself. Those steps are the same today as they were in 2022 when I wrote those posts.

A new article was published in the January-March 2026 issue of the NGS Magazine (available to NGS members or possibly through your local library), written by Adam J. Barrone, current supervisor of PERSI at ACPL. His article has a lot of fun history about PERSI and he offers tips and techniques for using PERSI effectively.

There are to main things I always want to impart about PERSI anytime I talk about it. First, PERSI is NOT an every name index. Do not show up to PERSI, type in your ancestor’s name, find nothing, and then walk away thinking PERSI has nothing for your research. PERSI is primarily a subject/keyword index. When searching PERSI, think about what kinds of things your ancestor may have been involved with or included in. Second, there are multiple ways you can obtain copies of the articles you find in PERSI. Don’t let the extra step of needing to obtain a copy stop you from using PERSI. There are many things you can do to get a copy. I’ve written about them before, but the one that is coming up soon is to travel to the Allen County Public Library yourself. This year, the NGS Conference is being held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, blocks from the library.

PERSI can point you to articles that could be vital to your research. The information that local genealogical and historical societies collected in their journals and quarterlies could be the only place that information can be found because the originals were lost or destroyed or from personal collections. It is worth the effort!

Lecture List Updated

Genealogy Program,

Starting with the Pandemic in 2020, a lot of my record-keeping and lecture maintenance fell by the wayside. For a long time I felt like I was barely keeping it together. Not only were we dealing with a global pandemic, but I got a new full-time job, my son was off to college and needed to move out of the dorms, my daughter started her senior year of high-school online, and we decided to take advantage of the work-from-home/school-from-home time to move back to Colorado from Texas.

Needless to say, things feel by the wayside. Well, I just (finally) took some time and updated my website. My lecture list has been updated. Old lectures that I needed to retire have been removed, new lectures I’ve developed have been added. I spiffed up their descriptions to hopefully be more descriptive for societies looking for presenters. I also updated my terribly out-of-date list of my recent speaking engagements, publications, and so on.

Everything is exciting and new.

If your society is looking for a webinar speaker, my list is up-to-date. I’d love to share some of my stories with your group!

Unlocking the Real Lives of Farmers: A Genealogy Course

Genealogical Education, ,

GRIP Genealogy Institute is coming up fast! I am coordinating our “Not Just Farmer’s” course along with Cyndi Ingle and Paula Stuart-Warren. The virtual courses, which this course is, are taking place from 22-26 June 2026.

The motivation behind the course was years of listening to people at genealogical events, whether it was local meetings or national conferences, say “oh, my ancestors were just farmers.” As if! Most of our ancestors were farmers. Before grocery stores, families had to grow their own food for survival. Some ancestors had what we call today “side hustles” to supplement their income. Farming crops has some down time while the crops grow, or if it is too rainy to harvest, or during the winter. So, many farmers took on other occupations as well.

Some specialized in a particular breed of livestock. Mine raised Duroc Jersey Swine. Others may have focused on chickens, sheep, beef cattle, dairy cows, or other animals. Some farms also had fruit orchards, bushes, or grape vines. Whatever your ancestor engaged in, it was a vital part of the family’s survival. And not just the family, but the community as well. While one farmer may have raised dairy cows and made butter, another may have raised hens for eggs. They likely engaged in bartering or selling at a local marketplace.

Farming was (and still is) a hard occupation. Lots of long days full of physical labor. Maybe not as exciting as other occupations, but that depends on your definition of exciting. And if you think your farming ancestors were not captured in records, you would be wrong.

In the farmer’s course, we cover many topics but always bring it back to the records that can be found for those topics:

  • Inventions and Ingenuity – advancements in technology and farming techniques
  • Ranching – cattle and sheep, livestock drives
  • Land – a farmer or rancher needs land to grow the crops or raise the livestock
  • Farm buildings, such as barns, can tell the story of your ancestor’s heritage
  • Specific farm products and going to market
  • Using finding aids and collections to find diaries, journals, account books, etc.
  • Farming newspapers and newsletters
  • Side-Hustles, other jobs that farmers engaged in
  • Farming outside the law – bootleggers, squatters, tax evaders
  • Farming education, from the local fairs to higher education
  • Farming organizations, clubs, and unions
  • Women’s roles in agricultural families
  • Social programs to help the farmers during hard times
  • Cultural divides and barriers in farming

Throughout the week we will be building a “profile” for your farmer. We will have a spreadsheet template students can use (or you can build your own) to fill out information about a farming ancestor of their choosing. This template acts as a research log that you can then use to write a narrative about your farming ancestor.

Farmers are a crucial part of our society. They provide the food. But they do more than that, engaging in communities and contributing to the survival of those communities.

I hope you will consider doing a deep dive with us regarding your farming ancestors. You can read more details about the course here, and register here.