Researchers with the American School of Genealogy, Heraldry, and Documentary Sciences are looking for participants familiar with genealogy to answer a survey for a research project. Respondents will receive free ad space in the school's next issue of their journal Altair. Please email me at Eklundj9@aol.com to receive a copy of the cover letter, survey, and the last issue of Altair. Please put in the subject line Genealogy Survey so I can recognize emails associated…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on October 31, 2012 at 9:43am —
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Genealogy has been a huge part of my life. I have a passion for my own research and a passion for teaching others how to search for their genealogical treasures. I have friends who have been able to break down their brick walls thanks to my counseling and thanks to my education in genealogy I have been able to break down the most stubborn brick walls in my own family tree.
A new opportunity has opened for me to not only expand on my own genealogical education, but also for me…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on April 28, 2011 at 8:21pm —
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I have a passion for America unmeasureable to anything else in life. I'm scared that our current politicians have forgotten the definition of words that make life truly worth living, such as freedom and democracy. My passion and love for my country came in elementary school when I was taught to have pride in my country. In private school, I was not taught a party line. I was taught about the rich history of this great nation, the good and the bad. My passion only grew when my maternal…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on May 31, 2010 at 9:44pm —
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Grad school began in September and my life has been a blur since then. The school year also began in September for my kids and since I homeschool meant more work for me as well. I also worked on developing two courses for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies (
www.genealogicalstudies.com). Both should be complete in the next couple of months, I hope. So, with all of this and the normal day to day responsibilities (housework, playing…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on December 28, 2009 at 4:13pm —
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One aspect of my life that sometimes makes me sad is that I didn't know either set of grandparents very well. My paternal grandparents were both born and raised in a small New York town. They moved out to California after all three of their children had settled here. They moved to a small farm in Paradise and then when they could no longer keep up with the farm, they moved to Chico where they both died. My paternal grandmother died 24 Apr 1990, a day shy of her birthday. I was in seventh grade.…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on August 6, 2009 at 9:34pm —
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As some of you know, one of my major genealogy goals is to become a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). A few weeks ago I requested a Patriot Lookup for my ancestor Martin Graves, to see if he was already a recognized patriot. Within days I had received an email stating that Martin Graves had indeed been recognized by the DAR. A few weeks ago I faxed off the request for a copy of the original application. After weeks of waiting for a copy of the application, checking the…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on August 6, 2009 at 9:22pm —
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Okay, so I must admit that I do not use any genealogy software right now. I once had Family Tree Maker around 2004 but when my computer crashed and I lost all of the data (thankfully I had backed up everything with paper due to me being very paranoid) I just couldn't find the time to retype everything. It just sounded like such a pain in the butt.
So, because of this, genealogy software is one of those areas of genealogy I am quite uninformed about. Many of you are experts and some…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on August 5, 2009 at 5:41pm —
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I just attended my first chat session at Genealogy Wise. If you weren't there, you missed a great chat. The chat started at 8:00 pm MST and was called GENTREK-Genealogy Research & Resource Notebooks, Part 1. The chat was presented by Jayne McCormick and Dae Powell. The Genealogy Wise chatroom is available for chats 24 hours a day. GenWise Chats is a group on GW which has begun scheduled chats to educate members on different topics. This is a terrific resource for members and I encourage all…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on August 3, 2009 at 9:10pm —
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Forget the fact that the number of groups on Genealogy Wise expands daily, which has been overwhelming for some (side note: Genealogy Wise is working on group categories to make the groups more accessible), what about those of us who are beginning to get overwhelmed by the amount of groups we have joined and created. I currently am a member of 67 groups. Of those 67 groups I created 36 of them. Most of the groups I created are surname groups, which the exception of the Daughters of the American…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on August 2, 2009 at 3:00pm —
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All genealogists ultimately hit the proverbial brick wall. We just can't seem to find a birth date for our great great grandfather that would help us distinguish him from another individual with his same name. We research for hours through microfilm hoping to find the piece of the puzzle that will suddenly flood our family tree with new branches. As genealogists we strive to not just get past the proverbial brick wall, but to tear it down. Not brick by brick, but all at once with one piece of…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on July 30, 2009 at 12:41pm —
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Genealogy can be generically defined as the study of family. For a genealogist, genealogy is defined in more detail and is different for each individual genealogist. Some genealogists only conduct one-name studies on one particular surname and never look into the other surnames in which they have ancestors. Other genealogists want to know about each individual ancestor and go into great detail to understand their lives and the times in which they lived. Genealogy for me is a way to understand…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on July 22, 2009 at 9:45am —
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Disclaimer: I am discussing this resource because of my own positive experiences through this store. I am an alumni from the National Institute for Genealogical Studies; however, my affiliation ends there. I do not make any money or benefit in any way from any purchases made through this store. I just wanted to bring attention to a resource for genealogical products for those who are interested in these types of products.
The National Institute for Genealogical Studies not…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on July 21, 2009 at 1:50pm —
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We all have different views about the right and wrong ways to do genealogy. Some genealogists are working toward making genealogy an actual academic discipline, which means stressing the importance of methodology and sources. Other genealogists are more traditional and do not care to bother with the academics of it all and just want to follow their line as far back as possible and not worry about "proving" through sources or multiple sources who relates to who. On mailing lists, through blogs,…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on July 20, 2009 at 3:33pm —
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The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. is an incredible resource for genealogists who have ancestors who immigrated to America through Ellis Island. The Foundation’s website in particular is an incredible resource for genealogists. http://www.ellisisland.org/
At the above website, you can search the Ellis Island/Port of New York records for your ancestors. No payment is required to search these records. The website also offers in-depth information on the history of Ellis…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on July 20, 2009 at 9:30am —
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One of the first things I learned in my genealogy courses regarded the ethics of displaying information of living relatives. When a genealogist publishes his or her family's pedigree charts or family history, understanding proper etiquette of displaying living relatives information is imperative. If you happen to publish the birth dates of your aunt and she gets upset with you, she may not want to help you with your genelaogy anymore. Publishing information that helps to identify living…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on July 19, 2009 at 1:43pm —
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This summer I took an online course through one of the local community colleges called "Teaching Online." For the course I had to create some content for my "students." My course was a basic genealogy course and the below is what I created just for fun:
I created this to make you aware of the tribulations and consequences of being addicted to genealogy. Enjoy!
You know your obsessed with genealogy when...
1. You have dreams that your great great great…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on July 18, 2009 at 4:29pm —
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When you first get the keys to a new home you are overcome with cognitive dissonance. The uncomfortable tension of feeling elated that you have purchased a house, but overcome with fear regarding the enormity of the responsibility. On a smaller scale, signing up for a new social networking site can have the same feelings of cognitive dissonance. A new member is excited about the possibilities of meeting new people, networking and learning with and from other members, and excited to share their…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on July 17, 2009 at 1:59pm —
3 Comments
When speaking with relatives about genealogy, most have their eyes glaze over or give a low groan. Jennifer is going to start asking all of these questions about relatives because she is nosey or is going to put the family secrets or family blemishes or all out family craziness in the genelaogy. I actually had an aunt tell me not to discuss my uncle's "blemishes" in my genealogy reports, afraid that my genealogy was nothing more than gossip and a way to make the family blush. Oye!
It…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on July 16, 2009 at 10:35am —
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My paternal grandmother loved to tell stories about our ancestors. She loved history and she loved genealogy. She did not live long enough to know what the Internet is or the amount of resources now available over said Internet to conduct family research. She didn't know what the genealogical proof standard was or what methodology meant or own one book on genealogy. She just loved to tell the stories that had been past down to her and tell the stories she had lived through. Like my maternal…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on July 15, 2009 at 12:04pm —
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Every genealogist knows that pictures of our ancestors are like treasure. No amount of money could ever make us hand over the very souls of our ancestors. Pictures help our stories of our ancestors come to life. Pictures make us feel as though we actually knew our ancestors. Through pictures we can see through the descendants what physical features stand out down a line. Pictures also tell us about the times our ancestors lived in through their clothing or the background of the picture. Having…
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Added by Jennifer Eklund, PLCGS on July 15, 2009 at 9:30am —
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