Monday 23 July 2012

Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge : K is for...

This post may be more obscure than the norm but the biggest thing that stands out for me in my genealogy experience, that starts with the letter 'K' is keep.


Let me explain. When I was a teenager, running around footloose and fancy free without a care in the world, my grandmothers told me stories about our ancestry. How I wish I was better at remembering everything they said. I did keep an exercise book (which I still have today) in which I scribbled down things they told me, names and dates mostly. Birthplaces and occupations too. I'm still amazed at how much my paternal grandmother remembered. She was virtually spot on with birthdates and she knew who married who, where and when.

When I got more serious about genealogy, I pulled out that trusty exercise book and got busy. I went to every library, I scoured the internet, I poured over shelves of local history and social history books, I ordered reams of church records microfilms and I squinted for hours at a time at microfiche readers. Very soon, my exercise book filled to capacity and I had to go out and buy another, and another and...(you get the picture). They came in various sizes, colours, cover designs and brands. I bought pencils like they were going out of fashion. I wrote down everything I could think of, and more. I wrote down every source, page number, quotation....(Okay, no I didn't. I learned that lesson the hard way).


 The moral of this story is? I learned to keep everything. Even if I don't think it will be relevant later, it just might be, otherwise I end up kicking myself and turning myself (and my house) upside down and inside out trying to locate it. Through my love of genealogy I have learned to:
Keep track (of everything)
Keep all notebooks
Keep a pencil on hand at all times
Keep all sources
Keep lists
Keep searching (never give up, and leave no stone unturned)
Keep loose papers in a box (the key to this one is to remember that you do actually have that box of loose papers. Doh!)
Keep FHL microfilm numbers for future reference
Keep everything on file (or in a large - archival safe - storage box)
Keep duplicates where relevant
Keep backing up work on a regular basis (don't rely solely on technology)
Keep your bookmarked websites for at least 12 months and edit/delete as relevant

Before I end this post, I must make a special (afterthought) reference to Kelly's Trade Directories. Bless you! I tip my hat off to you. My ancestral journey would be stale without you.
More importantly,


Sorry, couldn't resist! ;-)

12 comments:

  1. How right you are! I do like your list of "keeps". I still have a handwritten family tree I drew up at at my grandfather's house when I was 12 years old. However I now regret throwing out other things when de- cluttering before various house moves.

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    1. Thank you for your comment Susan. I have my regrets too, you are not alone on that score. x

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  2. This is great advice! I'm so grateful to my ancestors for keeping so much and I'm glad I kept a lot and every time I didn't, every time I decided I didn't need to keep something - letters, drawings - I've been so sorry.

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    1. Thank you for your comment Kristin. I have done the same thing as you, in particular a lot of my old school reports (which I was ashamed of at the time!). x

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  3. A great post! I'm sure we all wish we'd kept all those things including references but no, I guess not...thought I'd never forget the source for those early notes. I too have my very first scribbled tree (somewhere!). Another "keep" is to keep some of your children's memorabilia until they're middle aged and start to think about FH-that reduces the chance they'll get thrown out. Love the image.. Have pinned in on Pinterest.

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    1. Thanks for your comment Pauleen. I agree, I thought I would never forget my sources either, how silly I was. I have kept special school folders for my daughter, she may get a laugh out of them one day! xx

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  4. KEEP - of course, what a fabulous K word, and SOOOOO relevant. Where would we be without information that our ancestors kept?

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    1. Absolutely! I hadn't thought of it quite like that. They kept it in order for us to pass it on! Thanks for your comment. xx

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  5. My kids say they are going to hire a dumpster when I leave this earth. As they grow older I hope they learn the value of Keeping.

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    1. Thanks for your comment Jill. My family are renowned hoarders but there's a good chance the dumpster will make an appearance with my passing too! xx

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  6. Great post - I like your list! Keep researching and keep blogging :-) Jo

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