A typical day in this Genealogist's Life.........

It is 9 am and my day thus far.........
Tony is at work, kitchen is clean, hair is combed-------
so starting at 6 am-----I carefully reviewed my genealogy emails, requests, inputs, and data this morning. Reviewed and Added to my todo list, prioritized my genealogy tasks. Focused on two areas of study.
Reviewing this data I concluded that

1. the Jonathan/Thomas Anne/Solomon Dearman issues is very confused on about 15 online trees.

2. That my Dikes/Dykes data is all over the place. It appears as if 5 different (zillion piece) puzzles were dumped in to a barrel and I am to pick and choose the pieces for my one puzzle!!!!


------ started the day with two goals-----

1. complete documentation and back up data to repute Dearman history being populated on the net in preparations for my aunt's visit.

2. Start a machine gun effect on my Dikes data and records, map, timeline, family group everything in hopes of putting the puzzle together.
Prepared desk space and files to work on said tasks.

Had a long talk with myself about staying focused and completing tasks. Said a little prayer to the focus angels.

Feeling pretty good, rather focused, and ready to go----

8 am
I Opened my FACEBOOK and found Gini's blog....

Gini Webb: Friend of Friends ~ Honoring the Slaves of the Beal Ijames Plantation ~ Part 1 of the 2nd Generation

Gini Webb: Friend of Friends ~ Honoring the Slaves of the Beal Ijames Plantation ~ Part 1 of the 2nd Generation

It is written beautifully and with so much love.



and Thomas's new carnival

Carnival of African-American Genealogy
Restore My Name – Slave Records and Genealogy Research
Type: Other - Carnival
Start Time: Friday, February 19, 2010 at 12:00pm
End Time: Friday, March 12, 2010 at 11:00pm
Location: http://ourgeorgiaroots.com/

DescriptionRestore My Name – Slave Records and Genealogy Research, will kick-off this African-American themed carnival intended to be a gathering place for the community to share and learn about African-American genealogy.

Luckie and Thomas put this together and the interest in this research and study has been escalating

-----and I am side tracked.

(sigh).


So off I go to review the Carnival Events and Notice several events and write and enter

two completely different Carnivals

Posted at 8:30 am Genealogy is Ruthless without Me: Carnival of Genealogical Societies is: Doin' Things Right!genealogyisruthlesswithoutme.blogspot.com

The topic for the March 2010 edition of the Graveyard Rabbits Carnival is: Forgotten Cemeteries.
This idea came from Tina Michael Ruse, who authors the blog In the Dark of the Moon Graveyard Rabbit.
I submitted about the Deerman Cemetary.

Went to the Afro-Am Carnival posted on the Wall

the Carnival already had 29 confirmed guest and 39 maybes

I am very excited but then I realized I had time to do a good job on this blog.
So I will shelf this important blog until I can really focus on it.

Reviewed and answered some more emails and facebook.

Called to be sure my flowers were delivered and said a prayer as my family prepares to attend my cousins funeral (sigh) in the state of WASHINGTON.

Bringing us to 9 am when I started this blog. One hour ago.

10 am Lord, help me to stay [Look! A bird!] focused on one thing at a time.

I have a headache, I am going to go lay down for awhile.

Oh my original goals for the day..........hhuh??? Will I ever get anything done ?!!!!

Carnival of Genealogical Societies is: Doin' Things Right!

First a little background for this blog:
I belong to several Genealogy Societies, some I attend in person, some on-line, and others through mail correspondences. At different times these societies will have contests, carnivals, or paper calls. I use this blog to record my work in genealogy study. ERGO: Sometimes the blogs may seem disjointed and "what in the world is she blogging about that now?"

So I like to introduce sometimes to what carnival/contest/ response I am referring to for this blog.
This blog is in response to a call of papers for:
Carnival of Genealogical Societies, 1st Edition
Doin' Things Right!
Type: Other - Carnival
Start Time: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 6:00pm
End Time: Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 11:00pm
Location: http://blog.californiaancestors.org/

Description Call for Submissions! The topic for this inaugural edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies is: Doin' Things Right! Shine a spotlight on a specific program, project, or publication at a genealogical society and tell us why it worked. Tell an anecdote about how you benefited from a particular genealogical society service. Share a success story and be specific! The deadline for submissions is March 7, 2010.

Submit your blog article to the Carnival of Genealogical Societies using the the submission form (http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_9134.html) provided by Blog Carnival. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any article you plan to submit and/or write a brief introduction to your articles in the "remarks" section of the form.

http://www.cgssd.org/#newsletter

The Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD)SM

That all genealogists become computer genealogists.

In particular the ROOTSMAGIC USER CLASS meets the third Saturday of the month. This gives me a whole month to try out new information given at the group. Often I confuse myself with the previous class, so I have lots of questions for the next class. I enter the room and it is seldom the same each month. The room to meet has changed, teacher changed, topics changed, students attending changed. I follow some of the class --- A lot of it goes over my head because of different applications and set ups from the students. I try to take notes.

So why do I like the class?------ There is always "something" I learn or want to try out. The loose structure allows for all those different applications and set ups from the students.
Genealogy is an INDIVIDUAL Sport with support groups and societies to glean what you can for your work. As in most individual sports each athlete/student learns the basics, learns from others, but in the end "does it her or his way". What I learn from the ROOTSMAGIC class is there are lots of bells and whistles to ROOTSMAGIC and people are applying this software in various ways to their work.
In specific, I completed an updated version, neat, concise, clear, organized and securely saved of all 210 family groups in one day using ROOTSMAGIC. Of course it was a very long day -- 16.3 hours! But what a treasure for easy reference. Family Group Sheets is a tried and true basics. ROOTSMAGIC is an easier and faster way to complete this seemingly tedious task.
So if I was looking for a comprehensive step by step lesson for ROOTSMAGIC (which I originally was seeking by attending this class) this group would have been a big disappointment and very confusing. But I relaxed and understood more the dynamics of the group. The dynamics of this group is Individual ROOTSMAGIC users sharing and learning from each other. I do learn something each and every month. I meet other users and share new discoveries with the software. The class is followed up with a key presentation regarding software. All the presentations I have attended have been extremely informative and well organized.
All in all I am enjoying my association with this group a great deal.

On the side, I usually carpool with a friend. We usually continue to make a day of it with trips to the beach, or shopping, or visiting cemeteries. We "play hooky". It is not unusual for me to leave home to attend a 9 am Rootsmagic class, followed by a Presentation over by about noon, and get home after 10 pm at night!!! Our families have decided that we "girls" at the age of grandmas are worse than teen agers when we get together.
Tee Hee!!!

Researching William Dikes leads to Texas History Lesson

In my genealogy research meetings, I was sharing some of the history of towns I was researching as I was looking for my great great grandfather;
As some of you know I am hunting down Mr. William Dikes circa 1830-1875 Texas. Census records, children's birth records, land deeds have identified cities in Texas to continue my research for vital records on this gentleman. One city I have Mr. Dikes living in 1870 presumably 6 years before his death is:Burnham, Ellis, Texas
This being the last known address I have on the gentleman. I began researching the city for land deeds, burial information, newspaper articles of why he died at such a young age.

The 1870 census indicated:
1--- Mr. Dikes real property in this area was worth 1500---
2--- That little Charlie down there is Grandma Etta May's father
3--- Yes I know his wife was named Abigail--- this is just a translation problem ---it appears from several records that she was known as Abby.

Name: William Dike
Birth Year: abt 1837
Age in 1870: 33
Birthplace: Texas
Home in 1870: Burnham, Ellis, Texas
Race: White
Gender: Male
Value of real estate: View image
Post Office: Cummins Creek
Household Members: Name Age
William Dike 33
Ann Dike 26
William Dike 11
Jonathan Dike 8
Lena Dike 5
Charles Dike 4

In looking for articles and records of Burnham ---I found this interesting bit of Burnham history. It appears Burnham, Ellis, Texas was set to be the Texas headquarters for the Houston and Texas Central Railway. But another city was chosen for the economic growth promised by railroad success.

Per The Portal of Texas History
http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth33018/m1/?page=4

Ennis, Texas was:
Named for Col. Cornelius Ennis, a railroad official of the Houston and Texas Central Railway, Ennis was established in 1871. 647 acres were purchased by trustees for a land company in 1872 and the townsite was selected in May of that year by. Capt. W. G. Veale. Theo Kosse platted the town.

Angry citizens from the bypassed town of Burnham, Texas attacked Ennis - killing one hapless citizen and wounding several others.
and

Per Handbook of Texas on line http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/EE/hje11.html

Citizens of Burnham, a small town to the south, responded violently to being bypassed and attacked the new community, killing one man and wounding several.

The references and newspaper articles are fascinating to read. I certainly got a flavor of the WILD WEST and the COWBOY WAY.

Another city I am researching for records for Mr. Dikes is Gonzales, Texas. Again this Rough Cowboy town had a history that I found very interesting

Gonzales is the site of the first battle in the revolution for Texas to revolt against Mexican rule.

Per Gonzales, Texas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1831, the Mexican government gave the settlers a small cannon (believed to actually have been a swivel gun) for protection against Indian attacks. At the outbreak of hostilities, a contingent of Mexican soldiers was sent from San Antonio to retrieve the cannon. On 2 October 1835, they were met by Texans under the command of John H. Moore. The Texans had fashioned a flag with the words "Come and take it". The Texans successfully resisted the federal troops in what became known as the Battle of Gonzales.

Gonzales also sent men to the Alamo--- but the

Come and Take It Battle

was first.

A Photo of the flag:



I think of the hours and hours of work I have stacking up to record and verify all this data and then I get side tracked with stories like this. There is a lot more to investigate about Mr. Dikes in these cities, and I am planning a research trip to the area this year. Also interesting is to note: Ebay sales small replicas of this flag: I thought that was so cool. But if I started purchasing all the cool artifacts I come by --- I would need another house to store it all.

OK I need to not beat myself up for getting side tracked ----- this is a hobby -- not a government contract!!! So I will relax and enjoy the journey.

More to follow---- Aunt Ruth

Location Location Location

Fellow Genealogist Linda Robbins posted a question to genealogist today----

I would like to know for fun with a sampling of how people spend their evenings watching TV. Please respond if you have your laptop with you while you watch TV. Also, what is your favorite laptop activity while you use it in front of the TV? I'll start: check email, read Facebook entries and respond, and check for gene...alogy information. Do you use a split screen or 4google?

I responded today with

hee hee we have three tvs but my husband thinks: me on the puter and him watching his tv (in the same room) counts as "together" time!! I use laptop on occasion but prefer desk top---near printer, with note books open, taking notes, trying to remember where and when I found data for my genealogy.

And the reason I posted this is because today I am working on location location location ---- as different lines of my family migrated west from the east coast --- I see how the families sometimes criss crossed paths, were within 200 miles a part but were not brought together until they all migrate to California.

I have been working names, dates, location. I am at a place in my family studies that would benefit with a road trip. But if I go to these places I want to be as efficient and effective as possible. So instead of following one lineage I want to get all lineages within a 100 miles radius done at one time.

The Scottish in me wants the full value of her nickel. And the crazy in me wants to do it all!!!

I am in the process of developing new folders by locations:

a folder for my Hayley lineage:
Lake County Tennessee
Ennis County, Texas
Sulpher, Oklahoma

a folder for my Reed lineage:
Howell Missouri
Springfield Mass.
El Paseo, Texas
Okema, Oklahoma

a folder for my sister-in-laws Cancimella lineage:
Ohio
New York

Making detail notes to identify all families at these location, dates and all land deeds, addresses on census records, location of children's birth, and marriages, from where the parents came, etc. For each location/for each lineage/for each family group to identify and provide a designated folder. These folders will be used to fill with newspaper articles, documents, photos to bring home and record and file as required.

To plan for this trip (as explained above)-----My pc, dining room table, and floor around my desk is surrounded with atlases, family group charts, notebooks, airline destination maps, contact people locations maps, and contact information. A good way to review this would to be to make common sized maps, print them to overlays, and compare maps. This would help to plan my trip.

Next I will add this data to an excel file: with data by location, town/city to visit, family group, family location data, what I am looking for, and finally results. I will follow up with blogs as I develop my trip(s). I will let you know how many line items I added to my excel file. After developing a spreadsheet, maybe I will guesstimate a success level to complete my results column.

OK you may say ----- this seems a bit time consuming but this is a piece of cake for me. I use to plan for camping trips, trips to Hawaii, and just daily life with 7 very active children. Mapping out is how I tried to put everything in a family trip. This is also why most of my children hate any vacation too much planned!!!!

My children are teaching me to relax a little. By over planning sometimes I would miss the awwwwwww of the trip. I must design in my plan more tolerance for just being there time. When other genealogist share their awwwww times, I realize in my very task oriented way I have missed the awwwwww of some of this work.

But we live and, if we are smart, we learn. Learn about our past, or future, and hopefully how to live and enjoy this life more fully and enjoyably.

Happy Journey Everyone, Ruth