Dragging Genealogy Information Out of Our Family

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the United States! Many of us will travel to be with our families or host our family members at our homes. Getting our family members to talk to us about genealogy and family history can be a daunting task for some of us. Let's face it, they don't make it easy do they?!

Unidentified Family Gathering, Houston County, TN. Archives

There is always that one relative (or more) that just doesn’t understand why you are doing genealogy research. They ask questions like:

            - “Why do you want to know all that stuff about our family?”

            - “I don’t know, that was too long ago to remember”

            - “We just didn’t talk about it”

One of the first things that you have to realize is that not all our relatives have the passion and drive to research family history. It’s just not something they are interested in and so they don’t know why you are interested in doing it. They can be downright uncooperative.

You Have to be Sneaky (But Nice!)

To get any information out of our relatives, we are going to have to be sneaky about it but nice and you can even make it fun! 

            -They know more than they think they know

            -Get them started talking and they may not be able to quit

-As the family genealogist/family historian, it’s your job to coax that information out of them with whatever means you can think of to use

George Washington Stringfield Family, ca. 1901

Family Photographs

Most all of us have family photographs. Why not use these to jog the memories of your family members?

            -Bring photographs with you to the family event and start a discussion

            -Discuss the photographs that are displayed at the family members home

-Talk about the scenery in the photo, objects in the photo and the people, glean any piece of information you can

Unidentified Photograph, Houston County, TN. Archives

Home Movies

If your family has home movies, why not make viewing them part of the family get together. Gather the family members together in one place. Watch the movies and discuss among yourselves the people, places and scenery in the movies.

            -Arrange a special family gathering just to view family home movies

-Make the home movies part of the family event, like Thanksgiving!

-Discuss the people, places and objects in the home movies 

Family Recipes

What is almost always at a family gathering? FOOD! Why not use that to your advantage:

-Ask your family members about family recipes

-Who came up with certain food dishes, who cooked them?

-What does your family members remember about the food and the recipes

Fudge Pie Recipe, Houston County, TN. Archives

Family Traditions

Many of our families have family traditions that they observed during certain holidays, family reunions and other family events.

            -Get your family members talking about those family traditions

            -Ask who started those traditions

            -Find out where those traditions originated

How Do I Record All the Information?

Now that you have your family members talking, how do you record or capture the information they are sharing?

-Write it down. When you go to your family events, take something to write on and something to write with to record any and all tidbits of information that you can get from your family members.

-Use a recording device. Invest in a small recording device or use your cell phone to record your family members telling their stories or any tidbits of information. DO NOT RECORD WITHOUT PERMISSION 

Collect Today for Tomorrow

Most of us as are always looking for the old records, photographs and ephemera for our ancestors. It is also important to collect records, photographs and ephemera from TODAY! One day they will be considered “old records”.

-Take photographs at family events, download them to your computer, identify them, and add metadata

-Collect ephemera, such things as graduation programs, funeral home cards, wedding invitations, baby shower invitations, etc.  

With these tips and tricks, hopefully this Thanksgiving you will get your family members talking!

REMEMBER: IT'S NOT ALL ONLINE, CONTACT OR VISIT AN ARCHIVE TODAY!

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Family Gatherings: Dragging Genealogy Information Out of Your Family

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Loose Marriage Records....What Are They?

Marriage records are one of those record groups that is a staple in genealogy research. After census records, birth and death records, we as genealogists always look for marriage records.

Marriage License Certificate, located in the Loose Marriage Records Collection at Houston County, Tennessee Archives

Most marriage records are recorded in large volumes or books and are referenced by Book and Page #.  Did you know there is another set of marriage records called "Loose Marriage Records"? 

"Loose Marriage Records" are a record source that a lot of archives, historical/genealogical societies and libraries who hold Manuscript Collections have on their shelves. These records are called "loose" because they are documents separate from the bound volumes and are considered the "working papers" of the marriage licensing process. These files can hold just about anything but most of them have a copy of the original marriage license among other records. 

Marriage License located in Loose Marriage Records Collection at Houston County, Tennessee Archives

In the Houston County, Tennessee Archives we have these types of records dating from 1871-2010.  Our files have such things as parental permission to marry letters, blood test results, letters from clergy stating the couple went through pre-marriage counseling and much more!

Loose Marriage Records can hold interesting and unique records not found in the bound volumes.  When a genealogist visits an archive they should ask the archivist or clerk if they have "Loose Marriage Records". Hopefully, the repository will have an index that can be quickly checked to find the surname your looking for in these records.

Parental consent form located in Loose Marriage Records at the Houston County, Tennessee Archives

This group of records is just another example of hidden treasures in our archives. Some of these records have been microfilmed but very few are online. 

The next time you are at an archive researching marriage records, don't forget to ask if they have "Loose Marriage Records", you might surprised by what you find.



REMEMBER: IT'S NOT ALL ONLINE, CONTACT OR VISIT AN ARCHIVE TODAY!


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Preserving Our Ancestor's Military Medals and Ribbons

Many of us have military veterans in our families. As we celebrate them on this special day, we should remember them and honor them each and every day throughout the year.

Military medals and ribbons that our ancestor's received during their service may be part of our genealogical records and artifacts. Do you know how to store and preserve them?

Example of Military Medals

The process of archiving military medals and ribbons is quite simple. The materials you will need are:

• Archival Tissue Paper http://amzn.to/2ztXTxE

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Take each medal and each ribbon and wrap each one carefully in a piece of archival tissue paper. Then lay the tissue covered medal or ribbon in the archival storage box. Putting more than one medal or ribbon in the box is perfectly okay, just don't stack them on top of each other. To make sure they don't move around in the box, crumple up more archival tissue paper and put around the medals and ribbons. It's that simple!

It would also be a good idea to include a typed or handwritten description of who the medals belonged to, information about their service, what type of medals they are and why they were awarded. 

Many like to display military medals and ribbons in frames or shadow boxes. Displaying them in this manner is perfectly fine. My only caution would be to keep the framed medals and ribbons out of the sunlight, especially the ribbons as they could fade if exposed to sunlight.

Example of Military Medal Display in a Shadow Box

So, as we Remember and Honor Our Veterans, let's also take time to preserve their medals and ribbons.



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Preserving Our Ancestor's Military Uniform

Saturday, November 11, 2017 we honor our Military Veterans on Veteran's Day here in the United States.

As genealogists we try to document our ancestors that served in the military. That can include obtaining service records, pension records, old letters and even our ancestor's uniform. Many of us are fortunate enough to have inherited a military uniform or at least the jacket if nothing else. So, what is the best way to archive or preserve a military uniform.



WWII Uniform Donated to Houston County, TN. Archives

Surprisingly, the process of preserving a military uniform is quite easy and something any genealogist can do.

The archival materials that you will need to purchase are:

-Archival tissue paper to layer in the bottom of the archival box and to cover the uniform
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-An archival box large enough to hold the military uniform
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To start the archiving process, lay a piece of archival tissue paper in the archival box. It's okay if the tissue paper is larger than the box, once the uniform is in the box you can fold the excess tissue paper onto the uniform.

Next, place the uniform on the archival tissue paper in the archival box. If you have more than one piece of the uniform (pants, jacket, etc.), place the first piece in the box, then put a piece of tissue paper on that piece and then lay another piece. Making sure to have layers of archival tissue paper in-between each piece of the uniform. You do not want the uniform pieces to touch but have a layer of tissue paper protecting each piece.

Tissue paper in military jacket. Houston County, TN. Archives

Finally, lay a piece of archival tissue paper on the top of the last uniform piece. If there is excess room in the box and the uniform is moving around in the box, crumple up archival tissue paper and place it around the uniform to make sure the uniform fits snuggly in the box and doesn't move. Do not stuff the box so much that you are crowding the uniform in the box and creasing the uniform. The uniform needs to be flat and not creased as it sits in the box.

Be sure to write up information about the uniform such as what war, who it belonged to and how you received it. Place this information in the box with the uniform. Maybe include a photograph of the person wearing the uniform if you have one.

Store the boxed uniform in a cool, dark and dry place. Do not store in an attic, basement or where it will come in contact with direct sunlight and humidity.

Preserving our ancestor's military history is important and making sure their uniforms are stored properly is also important.



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