Who's Asleep in Your Family Tree

Who's Asleep in Your Family TREE?

When I was young I loved to climb trees. I had no trouble climbing up. There was only one problem, going down was a different story. Have you ever been climbing something and your legs and feet start uncontrollably shaking? Well that was one of the problems. There was another problem I don't like heights. My older sister usually had to come rescue me. She did not like the job.

How does that apply to a family tree? I still like climbing trees but now they are not the kind that are outside. My trees of choice are now climbed with my mind and paper or on the computer. I can still get lost up in the lofty branches and not quite know how to get down.

I suspect many people have an interest in seeing who or what is in their family tree. You might have various reasons why, but many avoid the thought because they don't know how to get up or down the tree. Here are some of the reasons I have heard.

• I don't have time
• Aunt so and so has done it all
• I don't know where to start
• What if there are bad things I might find out.
• I will do that when I'm old and have nothing else to do.
• I don't know how to use the computer or internet.

These are just a few reasons I've heard. I seem to hear a lot of things being torn down and avoided or made impossible with negative thoughts or obstacles. The truth is a lot of those are mirages. Many families are fragmented and live far apart or are too busy. Learning how to climb this family tree can bring families back together and gain a better sense of direction of how to navigate the world we now live in. It can bridge the generational gap. All ages can do this and have fun doing it. The young are technical giants. Older people know more about the past and are good at bridging the gap. They were there and knew the people, the younger generations have no memory of.

Here is the truth. much of the work is done for you and there is a lot of help along the way.

Here are some of my favorite helps

1. https://familysearch.org

This is a site I use all the time. There are a billion records to look for people.
It's a way to build your tree and have help from others. Share pictures and stories and much much more. It is free and protects your data and pictures from loss and disaster. There are helps and videos to learn how, etc. There is a new help in the Family tree. They do some of the work for you and give you hints of records that might apply to the person you are looking for. You can get to this feature two ways from the person page or decendancy tree view

2. http://billiongraves.com/

This site has a app where you can help others find grave sites and connect them with Family Search family tree. You can also search and connect your own family sites and pictures of headstones. Just with a click of a mouse.

3. http://recordseek.com/

This site has an app that will let you connect any information you find on the web to your family tree and write out the source data for you. Then you can connect it to your tree so others can find the path that helped you. You can also connect any documents or pictures you might have in your family so others can see them and have easy access to them. This app is called Tree connect. It is also a free site.

vimeo.com/58752542 This is a link to a video on how to use this and get it on your computer or other device.

4. http://www.findagrave.com/

This site has much information on grave sites and sometimes information of how members of that family connect.

5. http://home.ancestry.com/

6. https://www.facebook.com/

A great way to share your pictures and stories and connect with family.

7. http://books.google.com/

Endless source of information Books etc.

8. https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl
   Find out just about anything!

I will give you an example of something I found this week.

While on family search I found the Draft record of my father and his brother.

Jacob on the left Henry sitting

The form listed where they worked at the time. I learned that they both worked at the same logging company. (Big Creek Logging Co.). Growing up Dad often told us a story of how his brother was injured in the camp with a rigging hook, and how he cleaned out the wound and then fainted. Now I have the time and place of this story and proof of the information. Then I Googled the name of the company and found out there is a restaurant called Camp 18,

                                               CAMP 18's BEAUTIFUL
                                                           RESTAURANT & GIFT SHOP
                                                           ELSIE, OREGON

built by two men who worked in those camps. One of them was a rigging boss. That was Dad's brothers job description. At the restaurant there are relics from the camps and pictures. I am hoping to go there this summer with some family members and reminisce about this time in our father and uncles lives. They are both dead so we could not ask these questions. All this from one little draft card record.

It's all about building memories and a sense of belonging in this fast- paced world we live in. We can build a tree one piece at a time and unite the world and your place in it.