29 November 2011

I Heart Organization! Part II

A couple of weeks ago I started re-organizing my genealogy files using Mary Hill's Family Roots Organizer System.  (You can read Part I here.)  I finished the project just before Thanksgiving, which was a good thing as I needed one of the tables for Thanksgiving dinner!

I really enjoy my new file organization.  I had filed everything by surname and now I have them filed by surnames, then families.  It makes it so much easier to find everything. 

My pedigree charts are filed at the beginning of the drawer followed by my color-coded great, great grandparents' surnames.  Normally, one would have 16, but I haven't found one of their surnames so I have 15.  I have placed a 5-generation pedigree chart inside of each surname file. 


Next, I typed labels for each family on my 5-generation pedigree chart, using color coordinated file folder labels.  I used the full sheet ones as I found those easier to run through the printer.  The Family Roots Organizer System uses manila file folders for this step.  I used colored file folders because I already had them.  The family file folders are then filed alphabetically per surname.  Each family file folder holds:  family group record, documents, notes, and anything pertaining to that family.

I continued adding files for families.  I added new surname hanging folders as I came across them.  The picture above shows my direct line families on the right.  The files in the middle are the collateral lines I have researched.  I continued this way until I re-filed my information.  I left a few items in their original surname files as I haven't collected much information on them.  I will eventually file those into this system.  Plus, my research lately has been saved in digital format whenever possible.



Once my surname and family information was filed I moved on to locality and help files.  These files are orange in color, which was my choice.  Again, because I already had the supplies.  Locality files hold the information for places I am researching.  Help files hold information I use in my research.  Examples of these files are:  writing tips, conferences, military research, quick sheets, handwriting helps, repository information and society information.  

But the best part of a new file system is this:

an empty in-box!!!

27 November 2011

Thanksgiving-52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History

Week 48:  Thanksgiving.  What was on your family's Thanksgiving table?  Do you serve the same dishes now as your family served in the past.

Thanksgiving was a celebration of food in my family.  Roasted Turkey, Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Sweet Potatoes, Squash, 24 Hour Salad, Rolls, and Pie are my memories of childhood Thanksgiving's.

Thanksgiving Dinner 2011

This year for Thanksgiving the menu was very similar to the above except I substituted brussel sprouts for the sweet potatoes, substituted strawberry salad for the 24 Hour Salad and added green bean casserole to the menu.

Here is Mom's 24 Hour Salad Recipe: 


2 eggs
4T. lemon juice
4T. sugar
2T. butter

Beat eggs in small pan over low heat along with lemon juice, and sugar.  Stir constantly until thick and smooth.  Remove from heat, add butter, and cool.  When cold, fold into 1/2 pint of whipping cream, whipped.  Add:

2 cups oranges, cut up
2 cups pineapple tidbits
2 cups small marshmallows
2 cups seedless red grapes, halved

Store in refrigerator overnight. 

23 November 2011

Heirlooms at the Thanksgiving Table

Thanksgiving Day, 2010


One of my favorite heirlooms is my china.  My gold rimmed china was gifted to me through my mother from a special aunt.  Mabel Ruff Glover was the wife of Francis Henry Glover, my dad's brother.  She was a warm, loving woman.  I have fond memories of visiting her in Ferndale and Troy, Michigan.

Mabel Ruff was born 26 March 1921 in Highland Park, Wayne, Michigan.  She died 15 April 1996 in Deland, Volusia, Florida.

One of the special parts of holidays is being able to have a part of my ancestors represented at the table.  My china is one such part.  Do you have special heirlooms that your cherish around the holidays?
 
L-R  Aunt Mabel, Me and Linda, my sister, 1958


22 November 2011

Happy 3rd Anniversary!

Mr. and Mrs. Chase Agnello-Dean

Happy 3rd Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Agnello-Dean

21 November 2011

Happy Birthday, Linda

My older sister, Linda, sometime in the 1950's

Today is my older sister's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Linda

19 November 2011

My Favorite Season-52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History

Week 47:  Fall.  What was fall like where and when you grew up?  Describe not only the climate, but how the season influenced your activities, food choices, etc.

Fall is, and was, my favorite season.  Fall in Michigan is a beautiful site.  The crisp air, beautiful colors, and food bounty makes for a lovely mix. 

First, is the leaves changing colors.  The green leaves of summer turn to red, orange, yellow and brown.  They even have color tours that you can take to see the beautiful colors.  Leaves are also a good part of my childhood memories of Fall.  I remember gathering leaves in a pile and jumping in them.  Another favorite leaf memory is placing leaves in the shape of a house floor plan and playing in the different rooms.  A school assignment required collecting leaves and ironing them between wax paper.  Everyone knew where the unusual leaves could be found.

Fall weather is my kind of weather.  Warm, but not hot, days and cool nights.  The air can be crisp, but it is a great time to go to an apple orchard or pumpkin patch.  Windy days will cause leaves to swirl and an occasional rainy day can be found.

Fall activities centered around school, mostly.  I think of football games and homecoming.  I went to a lot of high school football games.  My dad was the defensive coach.  High School homecoming was a chance to get together with friends and float build.  One year we decorated one of our teacher's car as a ladybug.  We won first prize that year.  Homecoming culminated in a dance that every girl wanted to be asked to.

Other fall activities included going to an apple orchard and pumpkin patch.  I have fond memories of taking my children to the apple orchard.  Sometimes we would pick our own.  Other times we would buy a bushel of apples and donuts.  The kids loved the cinnamon sugar donuts prepared on site at the orchard.  Apple cider is another fall treat. 

Fall is the time to make soups, stews and chili.  Nothing tastes better after a day of football watching or leaf raking than a big bowl of chili.  Meat and bean chili is the norm at our house.  Other fall favorites include pears, squash, pumpkin, and anything made with apples. 

It would be hard to pick just one reason why Fall is my favorite season.  The weather, activities and food all come together to make it one of the most beautiful times of year here in Michigan.

17 November 2011

Trescott Street-Those Thursday Places

Trescott Street, Harbor Beach, Michigan

My family moved here in 1968.  We lived here for five years.  A few improvements have been made to this house since we lived here.  The second story and porch were added.  The driveway to the right went back to a carport when we lived there.

I spent a good part of my teen years in this house.  A few of my memories of this house include:
  • learning how to bake
  • being picked up for my first date
  • being walked home from a ball game by a boy and standing outside and just talking, really, just talking
  • learning how to drive
  • hopping across the creek to go visit a good friend, Ann
  • hopping across the creek to play in the old school playground
  • getting my shoe stuck in the muck as I hopped across the creek!
  • running away from home and only making it one block before my dad picked me up
  • biking from one end of Trescott St. to the other, which ended at the beach
  • helping my mom clean, by scrubbing a lot of tile floors
  • my brother, Neil, coming home from the hospital
  • my sister, Linda's graduation party
  • and, lots of family moments spent together.
  •  

15 November 2011

I Heart Organization!

It is important for me to be organized.  Whether it is my house or my genealogy research, I am happiest when it is organized.  Clutter stresses me out.  So, when Legacy Family Tree offered webinars on genealogy organizational techniques I made sure I signed up for them.

Recently, Mary Hill presented a webinar on the Family Roots Organizer System.  This wonderful webinar was right up my alley.  Mary's system fits well with the way I organize things.  I can fit what I have already organized into Mary's system with a little tweaking of my files.

The Family Roots Organizer System is a simple and easy to understand way of organizing your genealogy research.  It uses a color coded system.  You organize your files in red, yellow, green and blue colors, using your grandparents surnames.  My current system already uses those colors.


The picture above shows my current system of organizing my genealogy.  I use the same four colors as Mary does but in a different order.  I will keep my order as it is what I am comfortable with.  Each file folders is organized by surname, using more than one as needed.  This will be changed as I work on the new organizational system.

I will be changing over to the Family Roots Organizer System in the next few weeks.  This is what I have done so far.
  • Made a shopping list of supplies needed.  I needed to get colored hanging files, fine point sharpie pen, and file folder labels.  (A complete shopping list is available here.)  I added printer ink to the list.
  • Put all supplies in one area, easily accessible to my file cabinets.
  • I use Roots Magic as my genealogy software and had already color coded my family to match my colored file folders.  I just made sure color coding was on for printing of charts.
  • Printed off family group sheets and 5 generation pedigree charts.  I had a current,  completed pedigree chart printed off already.
  • Emptied out file cabinet drawers, you should see my office now.
This is as far as I have gotten.  Next steps will be moving my files into new folders and labeling them using the Family Roots Organizer System.  Check back to follow my progress.

12 November 2011

Politics-52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History

Week 46. Politics. What are your childhood memories of politics?  Were your parents active in politics?  What political events and elections do you remember from your youth?

I don't have a lot of childhood memories of politics.  I remember not being allowed to watch John F. Kennedy's funeral.  I remember waking up one June morning to hear that Robert F. Kennedy had been shot.  I remember the night I heard the Martin L. King was assassinated.  Most of those events made headline news.

As far as memories of politics, it wasn't until Watergate that I paid much attention to politics.  I remember the television airways being bombarded with the hearings for this.

The first presidential election I voted in was the 1976 election.  Jimmy Carter and Gerald R. Ford were the candidates.  I voted for Ford.  He was from Michigan, after all.  As we all know, he lost.  It turned out to be one of many times my vote didn't go to the winner.

11 November 2011

In Honor of My Ancestors Who Fought-Veteran's Day


Today is Veteran's Day in the United States.  What better day than 11/11/11 to honor those who have served our country.

I would like to pay tribute to my ancestors this Veteran's Day.  I would not be able to enjoy my freedom without their sacrifices and service.  Thank you to all who have served and are serving this great country.

I have only recently begun researching the military history of my ancestors.  Below is a chart of the ancestors I have identified as serving.  I am sure I will find a few more as I continue to research.  I know there are other collateral lines who have served to.


Relationship to Me
Ancestor
War Service
4th Great Grandfather
Alexander Glover
American Revolution
4th Great Grandfather
Hopkins Rowley
American Revolution
5th Great Grandfather
Jonathan Rowley
American Revolution
5th Great Grandfather
Peter Forney
American Revolution
5th Great Grandfather
Thomas Bowles
American Revolution
5th Great Grandfather
William Salisbury II
American Revolution
5th Great Grandfather
Moses Poor
American Revolution-Died in Battle of Bunker Hill
6th Great Grandfather
Seth Beal
American Revolution
2nd Great Grandfather
Samuel Stillman Glover, Jr
Civil War-Mechanics and Engineers
3rd Great Grandfather
Daniel Fenn
War of 1812
Father
Bruce Glover
WWII-Army
Father-in-Law
James Leyndyke
WWII, Korean War-Navy

10 November 2011

We're Loyal to You Harbor Beach! 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History

Harbor Beach Middle School, 2011

Week 45:  High School.  Describe your middle and/or high school.  Was it a large or small student body?  Is the school still in existence today?  How has it changed since you went there?

I attended Harbor Beach Community Schools in Harbor Beach, Michigan for junior high and high school.  It was located, and still is, on Fifth Street in Harbor Beach.  The junior high and high school were housed in one building.

The junior high was located on the front, north end of the school.  It was a two-story wing.  I remember lots of wood cabinets and an old school feel.  Harbor Beach was experiencing growing pains and some of our classes were held in the Our Lady of Lake Huron (OLLH) Catholic school.  OLLH was a short walk across a field to 2nd Street.  I walked there for 7th grade Home Economics.

A new addition to the high school was added during my Freshman year.  This is the school I remember the most.  We didn't have to share lockers as we each got our own.  The core of the school was the high school office.  Four hallways went out from there.  The hanging out place for many students was the four corners.  To the north of the office was the wing for business and shop classes.  The east hallway led to the history and English wing.  The library was located down this hallway with English classrooms adjoining it.  The south hallway was a short hallway with just a couple of classrooms.  The west hallway held the Home Economics classrooms and led to the gym and another wing that housed the science and math classes.

Recently, a new addition was added.  The Science and Math wing was converted to the elementary school.  The old junior high, now the middle school, is still in the 2 story part of the school.  I haven't seen the new addition, so I don't know what it is like.

Harbor Beach High School was considered a medium sized school at the time.  The town of Harbor Beach had a population of 2500, but the school district covered a large area.  It covered the town of Harbor Beach, the surrounding area, plus, the small towns of Ruth and Forestville.

My dad, Bruce Glover, was a teacher and coach at my high school.  He taught physical education there.  I never had my dad for a teacher as phys. ed. classes were not co-educational at the time.  He would be teaching on the other side of the wall during my gym classes.  I did have teachers who were friends of my dad and it was interesting to see them in social settings. 

The Harbor Beach School song was the University of Illinois' fight song.  I loved the line "we know you have sand" and Harbor Beach did have sand as it was on the shores of Lake Huron.   

09 November 2011

The Worlds of Genealogy and Theatre Collide

My daughter, Kirsten, is currently in rehearsal for "The Secret Garden" musical at Light Opera Works in Evanston, Illinois.  Last night, I received a text from Kirsten telling me that Light Opera Works used a picture of our ancestors, August and Louise Fredrick, in the design presentation for The Secret Garden.  I was blown away.

August and Louise Fredrick are my great grandparents; Kirsten's great, great grandparents.  Can you imagine sitting in rehearsal (or anywhere) and seeing your ancestors used for inspiration?  Kirsten texted "What a random coincidence and a great example of how genealogy affects everything."  I agree. 
The design team for The Secret Garden must have found the picture online during their research as Kirsten was blown away as much as I was.  The picture was used for costume inspiration for the characters of Ben, the gardener and Martha, the chambermaid.

When I attend one of Kirsten's productions, just as the lights go down I reflect on how proud I am of Kirsten and how hard she works as she follows her dream.  This time, in addition, I will be remembering the inspiration for Ben and Martha and how genealogy and theatre collided for this one moment.