Another year past, and a few things to show for it. I
haven't been writing here as much because I've been a bit scattered this year. Too
many things, not nearly enough done. But I have found some fun tidbits here and
there, and switched to a new software program for my genealogy.
Changes in the family
Not as many this year (that I'm aware of) as last, but two
big changes. One in the immediate family, and one in the extended family.
My grandmother died this year. The last of her generation on
that side. All of that generation left are only on the other side of my family
now. We had a nice service for her, and many of the extended family came down,
including my grandfather's cousin, whom I had not seen in some years. He
enjoyed seeing the book on the Bordewicks my sister and I put together, and
complemented us on it. I did up a pair of slideshows for the memorial. One for
the service itself, which was only a couple minutes, and one much longer which
played throughout the reception after. I enjoyed doing it so much that I ended
up doing one for each of my grandparents and gave them to both sides of the
family as presents. I miss them all, so it was a bit of a tearful process.
You've heard it before, but I'll say it again. No matter how difficult it might
feel to talk to someone and ask them questions, it's far harder when they've
gone. There are some things you'll never get if you don't ask.
The other big change in the family this year was my cousin's
second child was born. She's a sweet little thing, and it was quite the
celebration Christmas evening with four kids in the house. My cousins and my
sister and I are all so widely spaced, we generally haven't had more than three
kids in the family at any family Christmas. There are six years between me and
my sister, and five between her and our next cousin, so by the time his brother
was born, I was in my teen years. And by the time my twin cousins were born,
they'd moved up to Alaska, and just didn't come to many family Christmases.
We've had the occasional Christmas where extended family have had their kids
over, but they were more rare than not, so it was definitely an experience
having four young kids at Christmas this year. I quite enjoyed it.
Brick Wall Progress
I considered doing this in a different post, but I'm not as
well-organized this year as I was last. I've made a few discoveries.
My favorite this year, I think has to be my
great-grandmother's brother, Mendel Kresch, who escaped through Belgium to Brazil when
the war started in Europe. He and (I believe) his wife, their daughter (not
sure if there were others, or if they escaped), her husband, and their child,
managed to escape to Brazil, and therefore managed to survive the war. I only
discovered that one because one of my father's cousins mentioned a cousin from
South America, so when I saw the Brazillian Immigrant card collection at Family
Search, I had to check it out. It's especially great because the cards have a
photo attached, so I can see just what he looked like.
Other than that, I haven't made any big discoveries in my
ancestral lines, though I have made a few other discoveries. I discovered that
Grumpy's family was still officially in Arkansas during the 1940 census, when
I'd assumed they were already in Chicago. I do know that they'd moved to
Chicago no more than two years later, as that is where they are living when
Alex had to go in for his draft card, which was another bit of fascinating
information to find. I still haven't found Jack Seneft in the 1940 census,
though I keep trying. Unfortunately, I don't believe he ever married, so all I have
to go by is his name and draft card information from that same batch.
I also
found a bunch of names and addresses in the BC area during the Ancestry free
period. They had the Canadian voting records posted, and so I have a lot of
information on who was living where and when because of them.
I'm working on a book about Nana's mother, and sorting
through letters, which makes me think it might be interesting to scan them all
and create a book of them. It would be a lot of up-down, though, given where my
scanner is currently placed. But because of the book, I have been trying to
firm up the information I do have on the Sealand branches. I still have no
better leads on where Lars Olsen ended up when he came here, but I have a bit
more information on his wife. I keep trying on Oline's father's side, too, but
so far all I really have there before him is Census information. As of now, I
know that the family farm, Stubbegaard, passed through at least four
generations: Rasmus's father, Rasmus, Rasmus's eldest son, and that son's son.
I think after that it was sold, though I'm not sure why. I hope to find some
information on it in the letters, because I remember my Aunt talking about it
in at least one of them.
Software Upgrade
After many years of being a Family Tree Maker user, I have
finally switched over almost completely to Roots Magic. I miss some of the
interactive features FTM had, but RM has others that make up for quite a bit. I
got the full version of the software for Christmas, so I'm still playing with
some features, and haven't even gotten to others, but so far so good.
Much of my year has been spent hand-entering the family tree
from the old documents I have, and actually adding in the source information,
which I never did in FTM (part of why I wanted to do it this way). It's been a
learning process, but I've found all sorts of fascinating stories in doing so, and
reorganized things a little to help.
Articles
Still posting at the Examiner, including a series on local
and online sources for international genealogical research.
I also restarted my Surname Saturday posts, though those
will be slowing down now, as I'm reaching the edges of my family tree, and know
less and less stories about them as I go further back.
Resolutions
I didn't do so hot on my resolutions this past year, but I
think my main two focuses this year will be on finishing adding all my sources
to my Roots Magic tree, and otherwise focusing on my great-grandmother's story.
I'd love to at least get her life story written out, if nothing else. Maybe get
all those letters scanned, too.
To everyone reading this, have a happy and productive new
year.