Lacie's Genealogy Blog

    It's  Saturday Night  -  time for more  Genealogy Fun!   Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to: 1)  What is the best or important image or document that you have recently found online? [Thank you to Linda Stufflebean for suggesting topics!] 2)  Write your own blog post, or add your response as a comment to this blog post, in a Facebook Status post or note. When Fold3 had their yearly free access to military records, I jumped at the opportunity to search for my 3rd great-grandfather, Oscar Barton. There I found a muster roll for him during his service in the American Civil War. I had not downloaded the image above yet, though I believe it is also on the National Archives website. 

       It's  Saturday Night  -  time for more  Genealogy Fun!   Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to: 1)  Do you have plans to travel to do onsite genealogy research?  [Thank you to Linda Stufflebean for suggesting topics!] 2)  Write your own blog post, or add your response as a comment to this blog post, in a Facebook Status post or note. I don't have many plans to travel to do onsite genealogy research in the near future. If I could go anywhere, I would love to go to Illinois to meet Jennifer Holik. We made a connection and I see her as a mentor.  I would go to New York to research my NY ancestors and to solve mysteries. I would go to the National Archives in St. Louis and in Washington D.C. to gain military records for my ancestors.  On my mother’s side there are possible traces of English ancestry. If I can prove this, I would like to go to the ancest...

I know that Lorine McGinnis Schulze wrote a blog post on the same topic several years ago, but I feel there are even more categories. So with that said, which kind of genealogist are you? The Grave Hunter - Goes to every local cemetery and takes photos of headstones, then uploads them to FindAGrave. The Reunion Planner - Plan every yearly family reunion. Picks the date, the location, and the place the event is held. Creates genealogy-themed activities. The Learner - Always asks questions, attends genealogy conferences, webinars, and watches many videos. Always excited to learn and use new techniques and tools. The Time Traveler - Questions every aspect of family circumstances. Tries to gather the whole picture. (Social, economic, historical context) (ie, why did so and so do that, how did they feel making that decision, how did it affect them).  The Cycle Breaker - Heals the beliefs, behaviors, and patterns for themselves, their ancestors, and their family. The Traveler/...

    It's  Saturday Night  -  time for more  Genealogy Fun!   Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to: 1)  Who is in your paternal grandfather's matrilineal line (i.e., the mother of your paternal grandfather, and her mother, etc.) 2)  Write your own blog post, or add your response as a comment to this blog post, in a Facebook Status post or note. *  My paternal grandfather was Fletcher Pearson (1919-1986). *  His mother was Gussie Gable (1896-1963), who married George W. Pearson (1892-?). *  Her mother was Mary B Burns (1877-1946), who married John Welsey Gable (1872-?). *  Her mother was Rhoda (1842-?), who married William Burns (1834-?).

Do you have a workflow when you find a new document? If you don’t, I will share one you can use. Here are some steps you can follow once you find a document online.   Step 1: Download the image Generally, there is an option on genealogy sites to download images.  On Ancestry, you can click on the tool icon, which is on the right side of your screen once you view the image in full screen, then select "download". Step 2: Name It If you have already established your naming convention for your digital files, you can use that. If you haven’t already, you can use mine. My naming strategy is  Year State Name of Record - Ancestor Name.jpg Step 3: File it Select the file in which you want to put the document in. Step 4: Attach images to your genealogy software program  First, add a fact and details (which may include notes) to the person(s) the document mentions. Then import images into the person's media album. Add a caption, description, and date to the document. Step 5:...

Last week, I watched a video on Lisa Louise Cooke’s YouTube channel about the closure of the National Archives, and it inspired me to write a blog post about the subject. It’s been over two full years since the National Archives fully opened. (It opened briefly this past November in two locations then closed again).  Now, in St. Louis, you have  to request an appointment for a research room or you can’t go inside. Researchers and genealogists, can’t obtain records, photos, and films, needed to complete projects for clients and themselves. Veterans can’t but need to gain access to their military records to apply for benefits. Geoff states in the video he is not saying fully open up, but slowly open up to pre-pandemic level. One of the guest speakers, Jessica Taylor said that a man was told "shame on me for building my business model around relying on the National Archives".  I was looking at a military researcher's services to see if they were available again to potential...

  It's  Saturday Night  -  time for more  Genealogy Fun!     Your mission, should you accept it(cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to 1)  What genealogy search/research did you do last week?  Did you have a research goal or plan?  Tell us about one or more search/research session. 2)  Write your own blog post, or add your response as a comment to this blog post, in a Facebook Status post or note. I didn't do any research last week, but the week before that, I did a little research on my 2nd great-uncle, Jesse Jay Barton. I reviewed old research to possibly explore new avenues on his experience in an orphanage with his brother, Oscar. Last year, I found a newspaper article about the arrest of my potential 2nd great-grandmother, Rosa Mott, which could play a part in why Oscar, Jesse, and Clara were placed in children's homes. I have to write an email to the Broome County Historical Society to see if there are any jail...

I will be sharing my point of view on this subject. I originally wasn’t going to write about the recent uproar that has occurred in the genealogy community, but here we are. It’s been a problem for many years  (I have written about it back in 2020),  but it's gotten really loud this past week in light of the recent elementary school shooting in Texas - especially on Twitter - almost   unbearable not to say anything. *Please read Judy Russell’s and Roberta Estes ’s blog posts to understand this issue.* I can understand both sides of the issue.  1. Do I think family members should only create   memorials for their loved ones? Yes and No. Yes- They are the ones that lost that person. If they have to arrange things after their loved one's death, they should be able to create a memorial when they are ready . No- Some people don’t know about the site and may never find it. Is there really a need to restrict FindAGrave contributors when the family may neve...

  It's  Saturday Night  -  time for more  Genealogy Fun!   Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to: 1)  What Excites You About Genealogy Research?  What part of performing genealogy and family history research really excites you - what keeps you coming back day after day? 2)  Write your own blog post, or add your response as a comment to this blog post, in a Facebook Status post or note. Like Randy, the "Thrill of the Hunt"  keeps me going day after day.  I get excited when I find a new discovery of uncovered information. A whole new awareness can come up that wasn’t once available before and to be able to use that to gain a new perspective or a new puzzle piece to a situation or story. *  Solving mysteries such as  DNA matches,  why did they do that?  * There is a feeling of a personal connection with ancestors Even though you don’t know them personall...

  It's  Saturday Night  -  time for more  Genealogy Fun!   Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to: 1)  What Keeps You From Doing Genealogy?  What real life activity do you have to do, or like to do, that takes time away from genealogy research? 2)  Write your own blog post, or add your response as a comment to this blog post, in a Facebook Status post or note. The usually things like eating, personal care, cleaning, and occasionally going to the park. I watch TV occasionally.  I go on social media (Twitter and Facebook) and read and write  blog posts. I commit to spiritual practices that can vary day to day. I also attend school which takes away eight hours a day, five days a week.  I try to get at least one nap in a day. 

      It's  Saturday Night  -  time for more  Genealogy Fun!   Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to: 1)  Participate in the  Ancestors GeneaMeme  created by Jill Ball on the  Geniaus  blog back in 2011! 2)  Write your own blog post, or add your response as a comment to this blog post, in a Facebook Status post or note. The Rules, and the Meme list, is given below in my response. The Rules: The list should be annotated in the following manner: Things you have already done or found: bold face type Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional) Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type You are encouraged to add extra comments in brackets after each item The Meme:   Which of these apply to you? 1.  Can name my 16 great-great-grandparents 2.  Can name over 50 direct ancestors (I am not sure all from memory)...

It's  Saturday Night  -  time for more  Genealogy Fun!   Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to: 1)  Let's have some genealogy fun tonight and answer some family history-related questions with four responses (Four Things!). 2)  Share your answers with us in your own blog, in a Facebook or Instagram post, or in the comments on this blog post.  Please leave a link to anything you post elsewhere in a comment. *Updated on August 6 2025* Four names I go by: 1. Lacie 2. Lacie-Lace 3. Lace 4. Mama Four interesting places I have been: 1. San Diego, California 2. Las Vegas, Nevada 3. Detroit, Michigan 4. Phoenix, Arizona Four ancestors: Tracy D Barton Gursie Gable Charles W Armstead Loretta Baker Four favorite genealogy record collections: 1. Historical newspapers 2. Census 3. Military Records 4. Probate Records

   It's  Saturday Night  -  time for more  Genealogy Fun!   Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to: 1)  The 1950 United States Census was released by the U.S. National Archives on Friday, 1 April 2022.   2)  Did you make a list of your census targets and try to find them in the 1950 census?  How did your plans pay off - did you find everyone, or just some of them? 3) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook post. Be sure to leave a link with your answers in a comment. I made my list of targets a few weeks ago. The National Archives 1950 census website opened at 9:00 p.m MT on March 31st. The first search I made was for my great-grandmother, Clara Armstead. I found her immediately - she was the first result that came up! Her then-husband, Anthony, was on the previous page as she and her sons were on the same page. So far, I...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:   It's  Saturday Night  again -  time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to: 1 ) Pretend that you are one of the subjects on the  Who Do You Think You Are?  show on television. 2) Which of your ancestors (maximum of two) would be featured on your hour-long show? What stories would be told, and what places would you visit? 3) Tell us about it on your own blog, in comments to this blog post, or in a Note or Comment on Facebook. One ancestor that would be featured would be my great-grandmother, Clara Loretta Scott. Clara was adopted by her aunt (her father's sister) and uncle. She had two brothers (and a potential full-blooded sister that died when Clara was a baby and probably never knew about) that were put in the orphanage. Why were they put in the orphanage? What was their life like there? What issues or situations were happening that made them be placed  in a child...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's  Saturday Night  again - time for some more  Genealogy Fun!!   Your mission, should you decide to accept it (and I hope more of you do than participated in the last several SNGF challenges), is to: 1)  Determine how complete your genealogy research is.  For background, read Crista Cowan 's post  Family History All Done? What’s Your Number?  and Kris Stewart's   What Is Your Genealogy "Score?"    For comparison purposes, keep the list to 10 generations with you as the first person.   2)  Create a table similar to Crista's second table, and fill it in however you can (you could create an Ahnentafel (Ancestor Name) list and count the number in each generation, or use some other method).  Tell us how you calculated the numbers. 3)  Show us your table, and calculate your "Ancestral Score" - what is your percentage of known names to possible names (1,023 for 10 generations). 4) ...

  Calling all Genea-Musings fans It's  Saturday Night  again -  time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along - cue the Mission Impossible music!): 1)  It's the New Year, and many readers and bloggers have already made resolutions, or goals, or plans for one or more tasks or projects.  Or they haven't yet, but could, or should. 2)  For this SNGF, please tell us what plans you've made, or what goals you've stated, or what resolutions you've averred for 2021.  Writing them down may help you achieve them.  Do one or more as you wish. 3)  Put it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a link in a comment to this post so readers can find your resolutions/goals/plans.   #1  Write -    I would like to write about my ancestral stories on my blog....