Good Story of how I found my birth families, as well as up-to-date postings on my genealogy searches –
helping myself and others
The ancestry Insider is a publication that I signed up for when I joined ancestry.com. They have been doing write-ups lately of the new Family Search website. www.familysearch.org is available to the public for research and access is free. However, the www.new.familysearch.org, previuosly available only to lds members, will soon be available to the public. According to the Rootsmagic webinars, they need to update their servers or something like that to be able to handle the huge amount of traffic they are anticipating.
Familysearch and ancestry.com have been working together so that we can have access to many records. Without paying anything, we all have access to search for ancestors on either site. However, one needs to join ancestry.com to be able to download actual documents. If they have been digitized, some of the information (but not all) can be seen.
Rootsmagic, which is the genealogy software that I use, works hand in hand with familysearch as well. There may be information on familysearch to add into the family tree. It is good to have some form of software. Personal Ancestral File is free and can be downloaded from www.familysearch.org/eng/paf/
Most of the genealogy software sells for around 30 dollars – one-time charge that includes updates and familysearch has a list of ones that work with their software. Whichever your choose, it is a good idea to have something on your computer – not just on ancestry.com or other online family tree sites because then it is saved if the site goes down or your computer blows a gasket from all that searching your ancestors activity. See you next time.
Familysearch and ancestry.com have been working together so that we can have access to many records. Without paying anything, we all have access to search for ancestors on either site. However, one needs to join ancestry.com to be able to download actual documents. If they have been digitized, some of the information (but not all) can be seen.
Rootsmagic, which is the genealogy software that I use, works hand in hand with familysearch as well. There may be information on familysearch to add into the family tree. It is good to have some form of software. Personal Ancestral File is free and can be downloaded from www.familysearch.org/eng/paf/
Most of the genealogy software sells for around 30 dollars – one-time charge that includes updates and familysearch has a list of ones that work with their software. Whichever your choose, it is a good idea to have something on your computer – not just on ancestry.com or other online family tree sites because then it is saved if the site goes down or your computer blows a gasket from all that searching your ancestors activity. See you next time.
EPISODE 15
My sister called yesterday – the one that lives here not far from me. We will plan a visit when she gets mobile and can come to the city. She is working on a scrapbook of the family history. She is 20-some years younger than me (from the third “Batch”) and therefore, not as much in common as I have with the oldest sister, who is nearer my age…and Bill, who is exactly the same age.
My cousin Stewart and I are both exhausted from working on The Book and now are waiting for the rewards. Also waiting for our articles to come out in magazines. Stewart, however, having caught the writing bug, is working on some fictional stories and he has sent me some. They are hilarious!!! As for me, I am getting back to tracking my family history through ancestry.com and working on a presentation for Family History Conference in October on how to start a blog.
I’m told there are more siblings out there, but I haven’t developed relationships with all the ones I know about yet, so am not actively looking. Of course, if someone finds me, I am open to it.
I have four sets of ancestors to work on – two branches of my adoptive family (Daniels and Peever) and my birth father’s family (McCaw) and my birth mother’s family (not named out of respect for my birth mother, who is still alive).
My cousin Stewart and I are both exhausted from working on The Book and now are waiting for the rewards. Also waiting for our articles to come out in magazines. Stewart, however, having caught the writing bug, is working on some fictional stories and he has sent me some. They are hilarious!!! As for me, I am getting back to tracking my family history through ancestry.com and working on a presentation for Family History Conference in October on how to start a blog.
I’m told there are more siblings out there, but I haven’t developed relationships with all the ones I know about yet, so am not actively looking. Of course, if someone finds me, I am open to it.
I have four sets of ancestors to work on – two branches of my adoptive family (Daniels and Peever) and my birth father’s family (McCaw) and my birth mother’s family (not named out of respect for my birth mother, who is still alive).
EPISODE 14
Oops. At the end of Episode 13, I promised you a couple of interesting stories about my mother’s side of the family. My oldish memory is to blame and, besides, I had other stories more recent to tell you. This story is about King Edward (Longshanks) of England [His rival was William Wallace, better known as Braveheart (or Mel Gibson for you moviegoers)]. Seems he had a mistress (just one, you say?) She was one of his wife’s handmaidens (or so the story goes). Her name was “Corona” and she named her illegitimate daughter Lucy. Lucy Corona married William Debaguly. This all happened in the late 13th century. The Debaguley name got changed in the 17th century to Bagley. Sarah Bagley married John Mack (I’ll get back to him another time). The Mack family line, in the 19th century, married into my mother’s family on her mother’s side. There – it’s all charted out and up in my hallway.
Today I talk about Scottish stuff. since my son David (the big one) was taken to Scotland at a very early age and has dual citizenship, and my grandson Jordan (the little one) was born there, it is only fitting, don’t you think? Our ancestry is Ulster Scots and the blog www.mccawscometolife.blogspot.com explains it all. And this is my daughter-in-law Lisa, who is a bonnie Scots lass. 
To round out my Scottish theme, I have a genealogy website for you, which begs the question: “Who am I and What Have I Done With My Ancestors?”
http://www.powell-pressburger.org/Reviews/45_IKWIG/Mac.html
REMEMBERING
Genealogy has a lot to do with memories – those of others, as well as our own. I just read of a man whose mother’s alzheimers is progressing and he regrets not listening when she wanted to tell her stories and is trying hard to get them before it is too late. Our own memories may seem trivial to us, but they can be precious to future generatons. Today I am thinking of my childhood summers at “the cottage.” Us kids (cousins) called it “Grandpa’s cottage,” because it was in Bancroft, Ontario, near where his farm was. I remember rainy days in the big screened-in porch sitting with my cousin busily working in our coloring books while the rain pelted the lake and the brown sand. It smelled so good and I was content to be in my cousin’s company comparing artistic renderings of ladies in fancy dresses and hats, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, and lots of animals with colors that our mothers told us were not right.
On sunny days, we would make trenches, castles with moats, and pat, pat, pat the sand into shapes we wanted. We were artists and princesses who controlled our world with itchy sand in our bathing suits and smelling like sunshine and fishy water.
On sunny days, we would make trenches, castles with moats, and pat, pat, pat the sand into shapes we wanted. We were artists and princesses who controlled our world with itchy sand in our bathing suits and smelling like sunshine and fishy water.
Reading
I’m in the middle of a book called Away by Jane Urquhart. It is a fiction, but includes facts about how choices were made to stay in Ireland, or go to Canada. Most of the time, the choices were made for them by their landlords. It also tells of superstitions and how one village copes with a young woman who has gone “away” when an unknown dead man washes ashore. The girl is found lying on the beach beside him with her arm across his chest and thereafter composes songs to him. Historically, it includes the landing at Grosse Isle, Quebec, and the ships that went on to Picton, Ontario, and Belleville and what happened to them in the new land.MORE ODD THAN ENDS
Thought I had the final edit done on Memoirs, but formatting where to put photos is a pain. That is not my strong point. Got it sorted and up and running. Had lunch with some lady friends today and we talked about children and grandchildren. My contribution was that I was blessed to have a daughter-in-law who is thoughtful and caring (isn’t it usually the wives who send the cards and make the grandkids say hello???) They are so far away and we’re just getting to know each other. It’s a blessing they are even speaking to me after their visit to Canada when things were in turmoil. Anyway, we all concluded that we are all grateful for what we have and any more would just be icing on the cake.
I am also grateful to have met a cousin in the UK who got me started on blogging and this publishing business. What a time it has been. I think the next project (outside of this blog) will not start until the weather turns bad. I want to enjoy the sun and warmth as much as I can.
I have only given you a short form of my experiences finding my birth families. I have more stories – some sad – some hilarious – and some downright 2-hanky stories. Please comment if you have anything you would like to ask or you can email me at: nsharon2@telus.net. Don’t be shy to ask. Who knows, maybe I can help someone.
My 89-yr-old Ontario, Canada cousin is going to Ireland with her daughter!!! Can you believe it??? My other UK cousin commented: “Bless her little cotton socks.”
In genealogy news: I get The Ancestry Insider by email and they are focusing on the New Family Search. some good info in there. Such as: – the New FamilySearch Tree will soon be a part of www.familysearch.org
Have any of you tried my favorite links on the right-hand sidebar? Mary’s Genealogy Treasures is, in fact, a veritable treasure chest of links and she updates frequently.
I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of it again when I start back at the Family History Center at the end of August.
Don’t forget – if there’s something I left out of my Episodes that you would like to hear more about, don’t hesitate to ask. I may have left my readers hanging and didn’t follow through.
I am also grateful to have met a cousin in the UK who got me started on blogging and this publishing business. What a time it has been. I think the next project (outside of this blog) will not start until the weather turns bad. I want to enjoy the sun and warmth as much as I can.
I have only given you a short form of my experiences finding my birth families. I have more stories – some sad – some hilarious – and some downright 2-hanky stories. Please comment if you have anything you would like to ask or you can email me at: nsharon2@telus.net. Don’t be shy to ask. Who knows, maybe I can help someone.
My 89-yr-old Ontario, Canada cousin is going to Ireland with her daughter!!! Can you believe it??? My other UK cousin commented: “Bless her little cotton socks.”
In genealogy news: I get The Ancestry Insider by email and they are focusing on the New Family Search. some good info in there. Such as: – the New FamilySearch Tree will soon be a part of www.familysearch.org
Have any of you tried my favorite links on the right-hand sidebar? Mary’s Genealogy Treasures is, in fact, a veritable treasure chest of links and she updates frequently.
I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of it again when I start back at the Family History Center at the end of August.
Don’t forget – if there’s something I left out of my Episodes that you would like to hear more about, don’t hesitate to ask. I may have left my readers hanging and didn’t follow through.
MUSIC AND MEMORIES
I finally got back to the Facebook page for my son’s music. If you would like to hear a good voice, go to that site and have a listen.
Met some sweet and wonderful ladies last night at a get-together. Heard some stories of when the railway came to Alberta only twice a day and it took all day to get anywhere because the passenger cars were coupled to the cattle cars and the train had to stop often to load and unload cattle. there were stories about one and two-room schools and homesteads in the middle of nowhere because the foreman was given the house in the middle of a 10-mile line of train track.
Family stories are important. Get them out of your elders before it’s too late. Future generations will be doing their genealogy and those are the interesting things for them. You may not think that telling a story about your microwave oven would be of interest to anyone, but, let’s face it, do our grandkids know what an 8-track tape is? The world is moving fast.
That’s all for today – have a listen to those tunes on Facebook – it will cheer you.
I can’t get the link to work, so just copy and paste the following link into your address bar.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Reece/213338682042168?sk=app_182222305144028
Met some sweet and wonderful ladies last night at a get-together. Heard some stories of when the railway came to Alberta only twice a day and it took all day to get anywhere because the passenger cars were coupled to the cattle cars and the train had to stop often to load and unload cattle. there were stories about one and two-room schools and homesteads in the middle of nowhere because the foreman was given the house in the middle of a 10-mile line of train track.
Family stories are important. Get them out of your elders before it’s too late. Future generations will be doing their genealogy and those are the interesting things for them. You may not think that telling a story about your microwave oven would be of interest to anyone, but, let’s face it, do our grandkids know what an 8-track tape is? The world is moving fast.
That’s all for today – have a listen to those tunes on Facebook – it will cheer you.
I can’t get the link to work, so just copy and paste the following link into your address bar.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Reece/213338682042168?sk=app_182222305144028
David
WORK AND PLAY
Exciting happenings this morning. I have finished a final edit on Stewart’s Memoirs and, after photos are trimmed and properly pixeled, the submission process can begin. Yes, my cousin Stewart in the UK, with whom I have been working on our website/blog www.mccawscometolife.blogspot.com, has written a very entertaining little book. Stewart is a storyteller and I’ve enjoyed the editing process (mostly). We have been encouraging each other throughout the blog/book process and this blog is getting my own writer’s juices flowing. After all, I have read and taught literature and know a little about good writing. Just havn’t found my voice yet. But Stewart sure has. His book is
called Galloping To Space and is being published by authorHouse (that’s the way they spell it).
I will let you know when they put up a free preview on their website.
As I mentioned, I have two brothers and a sister living not too far away and another sister a little farther and a couple of other siblings living in Alberta, but I am not in touch that much anymore. They are the younger generation – from my father’s third wife – and they lead completely different lives, although we get along well when we do see each other. My brother Bill has made good connections with everyone – especially since he has travelled to New Brunswick twice now to visit for Come Home Week. One of my sisters from Alberta went down too and they are all there having a wonderful time. Bill is a very personable guy and he loves having a new family.
I took this in the Laurentian mountains, where I used to live. This photo has nothing to do with editing or my siblings, but it shows how wise I am feeling today, having finished a huge job. See you tomorrow
called Galloping To Space and is being published by authorHouse (that’s the way they spell it).
I will let you know when they put up a free preview on their website.
As I mentioned, I have two brothers and a sister living not too far away and another sister a little farther and a couple of other siblings living in Alberta, but I am not in touch that much anymore. They are the younger generation – from my father’s third wife – and they lead completely different lives, although we get along well when we do see each other. My brother Bill has made good connections with everyone – especially since he has travelled to New Brunswick twice now to visit for Come Home Week. One of my sisters from Alberta went down too and they are all there having a wonderful time. Bill is a very personable guy and he loves having a new family.
I took this in the Laurentian mountains, where I used to live. This photo has nothing to do with editing or my siblings, but it shows how wise I am feeling today, having finished a huge job. See you tomorrow
Something for Me and Something For You
Guess who I found on Facebook? My son – and he accepted me as a friend! That was last year and I am SOOO happy! His wife has been so sweet to me, and they were sorry to hear my husband and I had split up (but I think they like the new me better). Last Christmas, I was able to send my 13-yr-old grandson a Christmas present and letters and postcards from time to time. (That reminds me – there is one or two owing). What a blessing!! Of course, they are living in the UK, but there is Skype and Facebook and emails and I am mobile now with cell and Acer Tablet. Sure beats lugging my laptop. I will keep the laptop, though, because I believe in always having a second computer in case. Also, I can do one thing on my pc (to which I’ve attached a 26-inch lcd tv via vga) and be on Ancestry looking up things at the same time. Saves ink because I don’t have to have to print the information to reference – I just have to look at my laptop screen. Of course, Windows 7 lets me have two windows open at the same time without losing one when I’m working on the other (just drag the top of the window to the left or right and it will “snap to” that side and stay open while you do the same with the second window on the opposite side).
There – I have received the special gift of being in contact with loved ones again, and have given some of you pointers on how to get more multitasking out of your computer. Have a great day everyone!!
There – I have received the special gift of being in contact with loved ones again, and have given some of you pointers on how to get more multitasking out of your computer. Have a great day everyone!!
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