Writing down the family story

                                                 The article I found stashed in an unrelated magazine

The hunt for a family's history can be compelling, clue following clue. The search can be so engrossing sometimes that it's hard to remember to note down the sources looked at. I'm guilty of that. When I first heard of the Genealogical Proof Standard which laid out all of the steps that were necessary for a genealogist's work to be credible, I wondered who had time for that when there were so many family lines to follow. But you know, there is something to be said for writing down the steps and conclusions.

As I've written recently, I'm currently going through the stacks of magazines and other written material I have stashed away. It's taking a long time. There are lots of different stashes of magazines secreted around the place. Recently, I opened one of the magazines only to find photocopied sheets from another magazine. It was a story I'd written for Your Family Tree magazine about my own family from Islay which appeared in the March 2015 issue.

What a find! It gave the story of a few generations of my Islay family, indicated the sources I'd delved into and the conclusions I'd drawn. This magazine article is a document that brings my research on this family line into focus. And, now that I think about it, there really is something to be said for taking the time to follow the steps of the Genealogical Proof Standard, especially the part about writing it down. My source citations could use some work though.

Sources:

The Genealogical Proof Standard - https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Genealogical_Proof_Standard 

Catching up with items saved "for later"

 

                                                   The Salt Palace Convention Center where Rootstech was held

I've been going through closets and cupboards lately, finding things that have been put away "for later", much later in many cases. Unfortunately, I've come across more hoarded history and genealogy magazines but at least I've made some progress leafing through them and turfing them into recycling containers.

That gives me a start on the physical items but a recent email from Rootstech reminded me of my playlists at the Rootstech site. I have saved videos on those playlists going back to 2022. Maybe it's time to start tackling them as well before the information becomes outdated. After all, many of those recorded sessions are short, less than half an hour in many cases. Who knows, I might find some good advice that helps me find a vital record. At the very least, it may remind me of the finds that I came upon the last time I was in Salt Lake City and bring back the feeling of being there in person at Rootstech for the first time. 

Memories and genealogy field trips

                                                       A sign for The Mousetrap on Granville Island

Memory triggers can sometimes come from unexpected angles. Recently, the connection of two overlapping events brought forth the flavour of a genealogy trip in my past. One of the groups I belong to is the BCGS Writers Group. In our society, practicing genealogy writers of various stripes meet monthly to critique submitted writing or discuss our latest tribulations and triumphs. Recently, it was decided that we, as a group, would submit "Then and Now" columns to our monthly newsletter. I don't really need another writing project since I already write an article every month but chimed in with my druthers before I could be assigned something. So I chose field trips as there have been quite a few of those since the beginning of the society and I've participated in a few.

With that in the back of my mind, I responded positively to my book club's social event. We were to attend Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap put on by the Artsclub Theatre on Granville Island. That brought forth a whole memory of being with a BCGS group staying at Kew so we could access the National Archives. It was within transit access of London, so one night we decided to attend a play. I wanted to see The Mousetrap which had been playing in a theatre there for decades but that idea was nixed because one of our group had already seen it. Instead we saw a farce. Not really my thing.

The memory brought back the feeling of that trip being with my fellow genealogists. We might have been researching different places and times but then and now we have a common language and love it when we can get together with people who can appreciate our stories even if we do have different taste in theatre productions. 

Finds in boxes

 

                                                                     Some papers set aside for further review

I moved into the place where I now live over 15 years ago. At that time, I put my "important papers" in bankers' boxes and stashed them in closets upstairs and down. It's finally come time to clear out some space and I'm finding it strange to see what I once found important enough to keep. There is a lot of paper, most of it notes and term papers from courses I took as a mature student.

Some of the items are definitely recyclable at this point, like the psychology notes and papers. The information about anthropology courses I took explains some of the books that presently rest on my bookshelves. Not that I've picked up those books recently. Of more interest are the notes from my history courses.

When I glanced through my history papers, I could see that I often used my own family history to add context to various themes that I wrote about. It looks like those write ups might inspire new themes for my blog and any other writing I undertake about my family history. I've only just begun to dig through the boxes. Who knows what else I might find?