02 January 2013

Facebook for Genealogy-Family Group

Are you looking for a way to connect with family members?  Try Facebook Groups.  I started a Fredricks Genealogy group on Facebook in 2010.  I thought it would be a great place to share family information and pictures with family members who might not read a blog regularly.  This group covers information on the family of my grandparents, Otto August Fredricks and Daisy Ellen Graf.

I am so pleased with the results of this group.  My hope was that this would be a place to connect with family members.  I hoped we could open up our photo albums and share; and share, they did.

One of the pictures shared was an early photo of my aunt, Lola Fredricks Brown.  I had never seen it.  Her granddaughter shared it along with their wedding photo.

Lola Fredricks Brown, date unknown

Another one I loved seeing was of the twins, Norma Jean 'Jeannie' and Norman Eugene Fredricks and their cousin, Rose Marie.  It is precious, and another one I don't know if I would have seen if it wasn't posted by Rose Marie's daughter.  A discussion ensued on facebook about this that was fun to read.

L-R Norma Jean 'Jeannie', Norman Eugene, and Rose Marie taken on the Fredricks Farm, Brethren, Michigan

In December, I started posting mystery pictures.  Some I knew who were in it and a couple I didn't know.  The first one I posted was of Valentine Graf and Nancy Mast on their wedding day in 1888.  Valentine and Nancy Mast Graf were Daisy Graf Fredricks parents.  It was a photo I was sure no one had seen before.  It was fun to see the guesses.  Eventually, someone guessed correctly and then I re-posted it with the information about it.
Valentine Graf and Nancy Mast, 24 November 1888, Indiana

The pictures I didn't know about were solved by other family members.  I posted baby pictures, Christmas pictures, etc.  My cousins seemed to enjoy the guessing games, from these posts stories started coming out.  I was even contacted by a cousin in California.  She shared pictures with me via email.  She gave me permission to post the pictures on Facebook.

The Fredricks Facebook group has been a fun way to share the information I have found on the family, but even more fun has been seeing what others share.  Do you have a unique way that your family shares information?  Please share in the comments.

  

2 comments:

  1. Hi Brenda, I'm fairly new to genealogy research and I love your blog. I'm signed up for direct email posts which I find very informative and helpful. I'm going to consider beginning a FB family page; that would be a cool idea indeed. I've re-discovered around 5 cousins on FB in 2012 and am thrilled!

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  2. Thank you, Loretta. You should start a facebook page, it is amazing what you can learn from other family members. Yay, to rediscovering cousins, it is thrilling indeed.

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