52 Weeks of Genealogy: Projects for Every Week of the Year

By Nancy Hendrickson

52 Easy-to-do-Genealogy Projects
Climbing the family tree can take a lifetime. But that doesn't mean you can't finish small genealogy projects in just a few minutes a week. With my newest book, it's super-easy to complete 52 projects in just a short time every week. And, accomplish more genealogy research than you thought was possible!

"I finally had the time to go through your book. I like the concise but thorough writing style and your examples. Very helpful. . . I have neglected my genealogy research for so long and I need a good "kick start"!" Janet Briggs Lettich

Want to do genealogy but don't have the time to take on big projects?
Think of how great it would feel to complete at least one genealogy project every single week.

With 52 Weeks of Genealogy you won't have to worry about not having enough time to work on your family history. That's because the projects are designed to give you maximum benefit for minimal time.

Written by the author of the Unofficial Guide to Ancestry.com and the Unofficial Ancestry.com Workbook, Nancy Hendrickson is an expert in genealogy research and loves helping family tree climbers with easy-to-do projects.

If you've been putting off working on your family tree research, grab this book today and start having fun with 52 easy genealogy projects tonight.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nancy Hendrickson
• Release date: Jun 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781393931577

Book preview

The publisher and author have attempted to be as accurate as possible in the creation of this book. The content, including but not limited to: links, screenshots, availability of products, etc., is as accurate as possible as of publication date. Due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet, some websites may have changed.

The author has attempted to ensure all links are current and accurate. If you discover a broken link please contact [e-mail]. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

This work is copyrighted @2017 Green Pony Press, Inc. All rights are reserved.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Illustrations

Introduction

My Philosophy Behind The Projects

How to Use This Book

Project One

Marriage Index

Project Two

A Genealogy Journey

Project Three

A Research Resource

Project Four

Daily Life

Project Five

Historical Text

Project Six

Your Revolutionary Ancestor

Project Seven

Photographing Family Keepsakes

Project Eight

Become a Photo Historian

Project Nine

A Period Diary or Journal

Project Ten

At the Cemetery

Project Eleven

An Interview

Project Twelve

Digital Photographs

Project Thirteen

Out-of-Print

Project Fourteen

A Family Reunion

Project 15

A Tale of Two Families

Project Sixteen

Death Records

Project Seventeen

Memory Gardens

Project Eighteen

A Biography

Project Nineteen

Pioneer Certificate

Project Twenty

Holiday Traditions

Project Twenty-One

Historic Trees

Project Twenty-Two

Migration Routes

Project Twenty-Three

Outline a Family Book

Project Twenty-Four

Audio Interview

Project Twenty-Five

A Family Recipe

Project Twenty-Six

A Place History

Project Twenty-Seven

Daughters of the American Revolution

Project Twenty-Eight

Mapping a Civil War Regiment or an Ancestral Journey

Project Twenty-Nine

Bureau of Land Management

Project Thirty

Scan Photos Using Your SmartPhone or Tablet

Project Thirty-One

Obituaries Goal: Find at least one family obituary. Save it to your software, scrapbook or family book

Project Thirty-Two

Genealogy Podcast

Project Thirty-Three

Request a Vital Record

Project Thirty-Four

Create a Timeline

Project Thirty-Five

Create a Research Outline

Project Thirty-Six

Who Were They?

Project Thirty-Seven

Investigate an Industry

Project Thirty-Eight

The Music Project

Project Thirty-Nine

This is Your Life

Project Forty

The Cloud

Project Forty-One

Religion

Project Forty-Two

Transportation

Project Forty-Three

An Unusual Website

Project Forty-Four

Money

Project Forty-Five

Family Group Sheet

Project Forty-Six

Place Names

Project Forty-Seven

Historic Photograph

Project Forty-Eight

Google Earth

Project Forty-Nine

Message Boards

Project Fifty

One-Name Study

Project Fifty-One

Immigrant Ancestors

Project Fifty-Two

Research Mind Map

Project Checklist

About the Author

Table of Illustrations

Figure 1 Simple Search Form

Figure 2 Sample Search Results

Figure 3 The Faulkenberry Farm - Where Dad Was Born

Figure 4 Handbook of Texas

Figure 5 A Leaf from an Account Book of Thomas Jefferson

Figure 6 Abraham Lincoln Letter, Library of Congress

Figure 7 Re-enactor at Valley Forge, PA

Figure 8 Grandma's Report Card, 1911

Figure 9 Hornet's Nest, Shiloh

Figure 10 Dad after being released from an Army hospital for World War II wounds

Figure 11 A Woman's Wartime Journal, Dolly Sumner Lunt

Figure 12 Dad is buried here at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery

Figure 13 Google Earth of Ft. Rosecrans. Dad's grave marked with arrow

Figure 14 A Family Favorite - Hollyhocks

Figure 15 Aunt Helen with Me at Reed Cemetery

Figure 16 My grandmother as a young girl; old photo captured with my smartphone

Figure 17 Family Reunion, circa 1946

Figure 18 Some of the Faulkenberrys were Confederates

Figure 19 The Knox family fought for the North

Figure 20 Missouri Death Certificate; note maiden name of mother and name of undertaker

Figure 21 Wedding Day, Easter Sunday 1940

Figure 22 Near the Shore homestead, Bethania, NC

Figure 23 Watch My Video for Free

Figure 24 My Sister Carving the Pumpkin

Figure 25 Grandma's Letter to Santa, 1901

Figure 26 Prickly Poppy, Monticello

Figure 27 Migrating from Georgia to Missouri

Figure 28 Mom, the War Years

Figure 29 Homemade Family Cookbook

Figure 30 Red Cross Fudge Recipe

Figure 31 Another ancestor in the Lone Jack Cemetery

Figure 32 Family Tree Magazine Planner

Figure 33 Family, Lone Jack, Missouri, circa 1940

Figure 34 How to Archive Family Photos

Figure 35 1851 Reaping Machine

Figure 36 Inventory

Figure 37 Battle of the Kegs

Figure 38 Selection at the Grocery Store

Figure 39 Moravian Star

Figure 40 Montreal Canoe, Wikipedia.org

Figure 41 Texas Mission, Wikimedia

Figure 42 1830 10 cent coin, via PCGS

Figure 43 British coin at the time of the American Revolution (George III)

Figure 44 GNIS Simple Search

Figure 45 Faulkenberry Cemetery, Limestone County, TX

Figure 46 Tobacco Field & Farmer, Louisiana Digital Library

Figure 47 Tell Google Earth Where to Fly

Figure 48 Google Earth Controls

Figure 49 The Old Home

Figure 50 Tippecanoe Indiana Queries

Figure 51 Surname Dashwood, Guild of One-Name Studies

Figure 52 A Few Occurrences of Surname Snow, Using Search Box

Figure 53 Search is at the Bottom of the List

Figure 54 WWI Draft Registration Card, Nearest Relative

Figure 55 Mind-Mapping Genealogy

Introduction

It’s ironic. I’ve written 30 books but when it comes right down to it, I get the most pleasure from writing or capturing on video or audio what I call little stories.

Stories can be as simple as:

10 minutes of quiet conversation with my mom

my memories of sitting in an empty country church listening to my sister playing old hymns on a battered upright piano

when I was a kid and my aunt made me crawl under the house to gather chicken eggs

the memories of building a deck with my dad

my grandmother’s voice

my great-aunt’s laugh

the joy of seeing a photo of my great-great-grandfather

When my mom turned 90 I started doing audio interviews with her. Before that I also did a few videos. Here’s a short one about her talking about going to the movie theater when she was a kid. (Click to download the video).

Beyond the