This week I worked with a Patron of the Family History Center to find information about his Grandmother.  It was very interesting to say the least.  Looking in the Census records under www.ancestry.com proved to be very successful!  We were able to find his Grandparents and also found out that there were Step-Children listed.  This was a great clue because it meant that those children were step-children of the Head of the House hold.  This also means that the Wife/Mother was married once before.  This could mean that she lost her first husband through death or she divorced him which was highly unusual in the 1930's. 

I read an article recently that I added to my Genealogy Articles page that talks about divorce in the early years.  It seems that most often divorces happened by abandonment of one of the spouses.  Most of the time is was abandonment by the husband because Mothers tended to stick around more often. 

So, even though we found this patron's Grandparents, it opened up a whole new can of worms.  Who was the father of the step-children and what happened to him?  This is something that has definitely peaked his interest in finding out more information on that side of his family. 

Clues like these will help you add pieces to the puzzle of your family history.  Please keep your eye out for things like this in your own families records. 

When I started genealogy, microfilms were very intimidating.  I thought that I would never get to the point that I needed to order microfilms to get more family history information. 

With the wonderful internet that we have, a whole new world of information has been opened up to us.  There is more information being taken from microfilms and being scanned into the form of .jpg's for us to get over the internet.  www.Ancestry.com is a great example of a genealogy service that is doing just that.  Yes, you have to pay for a membership with them but sometimes it's worth it to get the information that they have.  Many public libraries have memberships to their website that you can access at their facilities for free.  Check with your local library.  I know that Hillsborough County libraries all have free access (http://www.hcplc.org/hcplc/ig/genealogy.html).

I have been very fortunate to have found lots of information from their website and others like them.  However, there have been times that I have had to order microfilms because the records just aren't out there on the information super highway yet.  One of my branches is from Hungary and I have ordered microfilms in the past from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Salt Lake City Utah (www.familysearch.org) where they keep the bulk of their microfilms to get birth records from Eastern Europe.  It was very interesting!  I had to use the internet to translate what I found but I think that I found some great information. 

What I'm getting at is that no one should be intimidated by microfilms.  They're really not that scary.  There are a lot of volunteers that are willing to help you with them if you just ask.  I know that I even asked my neighbors sitting next to me at the library for help when I first started looking at them.  We've all been in the same shoes of being new at this.  So don't worry.  Enjoy discovering the mystery of your family tree like I have and still do!

Today was the big day!  We went to the Family History Center after our long summer break.  It was really nice getting back into the routine.  Our FHC was finally able to their High Speed Internet connection which is wonderful.  Dial-up was so slow that I'd sometimes fall asleep before I'd get to the next link.  It was sad. 

Today was a good start though.  We had 3 people come into the FHC which was our average before we left for summer.  One of our regulars was in and two new faces. 

All of our patrons today were men.  Surprisingly to a lot of people, the FHC has a very large population of men that do their family history work.  It's a great hobby for both men and women but I think that men have taken the lead from our perspective.  I think that some of the draw for men is looking up their male ancestors that served in the military and wars.  Then is snowballs into a continous hobby.  I'm glad to see so many men involved in such a great hobby too!

I'm pretty excited today. I took the summer off from volunteering in the Family History Center. It was a nice break to be with my kids but I did miss the FHC. I'm anticipating our return to the FHC on Monday. My Mother-In-Law and I volunteer there together. We both are looking forward to going in again.

The FHC is a great place to learn about genealogy. There is no fee to go there and everyone is as helpful as they can be. Some of the volunteers know more than others. I know that when we began volunteering we would tell people to come back on such and such a day when there would be people there that could help them. Well, now we have gone through the training and people are told to come and see us! It's kind of funny!

Anyways, please make use of all of your resources. There are FHC in may areas of the country and world. I'll let you know how things go.

I have been doing my genealogy on and off for about 10 years or more. I am always amazed at the information that I'm able to piece together about my family by searching through public documents. Then I'm often able to confirm with living relatives the information that I've found. Sometimes they are amazed that I found it! It just goes to show that most of us live lives that are an open book.

Using your sources will open up worlds of information to you. I know that when I visited Cleveland, Ohio years ago, I couldn't believe the information that I found in obituaries about my ancestors. Some of the obituaries are treasure troves of information. Another great source were the City Directories. It give the name, occupation, address and sometimes the affiliation of a person. I was able to find my Great-Great Grandfather with a City Directory. That opened up to me a treasure of information.

Please take a look at my Genealogy Sources page and try to use the information that I have there. I really hope that it helps you like it has helped me!

Are you a Head Banger? That's what I call people that have been doing genealogy for any length of time and hit right smack-dab into a wall on the way to finding their ancestors. Wouldn't you just love to knock that doggone wall down?! I know that I have wanted to. Sadly, I usually just end up banging my head against it. After a while, I finally get it through my thick skull that I need to move in another direction. Pretty frustrating!

The best way to deal with the wall is to take action! Look outside of yourself and get with a group of seasoned genealogists and talk to them. You don't need to find a group of professionals either. I've talked to many hobbiest that are just as knowlegable as the professionals.

I work at our Family History Center in Lutz, Florida and I've had my ear bent many times. Luckily, I've been able to look at the situation with a new perspective for someone else and help them either break the wall down or find another path to go around it. Like any problem in life, your own problems are a lot harder to get a good perspective of. I've been able to get through some of my own walls by helping people through theirs too. Looking outside of my situation makes me able to back up and look at my own in a new way.

So, go to your local Family History Center, public library (if they have a genealogy area), a genealogy group or any group that requires proof of genealogy to join such as DAR, etc. I'm positive that you will find help there. Also, take a look at the Genealogy Links section on my website (www.tampabayroots.com) and try new websites. Sometimes you'll find info. somewhere where you least expect it. If all else fails, wear a helmet if you're going to bang your head!