Fab 40

Family Tree Magazine has released its current top 40 genealogy/family history sites. Very interesting.
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/article/fab-forty
Top Scottish genealogy blog belongs to Chris Paton's Scottish Genealogy News and Events. http://scottishancestry.blogspot.com/  Very well deserved. I've been reading his blog for quite a while now. Always very informative.

ScotlandsPlaces

It's kind of hard to do on-line genealogy and watch the Olympics ski jumping at the same time :) Swiss guy (Simon Ammann) just made jumping history for his country. Woohoo :) Such an elegant looking sport.
ScotlandsPlaces. Interesting site to go to when you are researching places (which I am). http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/  The blurb for the site reads "Bringing authentic information and images together to help you discover places in Scotland."
It's divided up into each shire (pre-1975) showing a map, description, with photographs and general information. I found an ariel photograph of my great-grandparents house :)
The shire I am researching also has information about Farm Horse Tax 1797-1798, Medical Officer of Health Reports 1891 and Land Ownership Commision 1872-3.
When you click on a photograph you will be taken to an individual page. The information there is variable. Some will be very basic, others will give you quite detailed information.
Photographs are copyrighted and cannot be used for anything other than personal or teaching tool use.

OWOH - Magic Carpet Ride - and the winner is ..........

Bev Coffaro #880 www.alteredpaperarts.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to Bev. She has been notified and responded. She is a novice at genealogy so is looking forward to getting started.
Since a goodly number of you participated I have some other surprises in store but y'all are going to have to wait till another time to find out what that is all about :)

A fascination for all things Scottish

I've lived on this side of "the puddle" since 1987 and have rarely met a native that is NOT interested in Scotland and it's history. Many are fascinated by the clearances, Scots-Irish connections and the history of early Scots migration.
Myra Vanderpool Gormley wrote a good overview "Migration Patterns of Our Scottish Ancestors" for American Genealogy Magazine that was re-printed in Genealogymagazine.com    http://www.genealogymagazine.com/scots.html  She writes of the whys, where from to where to, and the early Scots contribution to the fledgling nation. Interesting reading and a good jump off point for more in depth studies of various settlements.
Another interesting, and much longer article "Scotland's Mark on America" by George Fraser Black can be found at http://www.scotlands.com/usa/3.html You need to take your time reading this one. Lots of information to sift through.

Poorhouse/Workhouse

I have mixed feelings about Poorhouse records. It's great that the places existed to provide relief for those that needed them but when I run across death entries e.g. my g-g grandfather in Glasgow,  I have to wonder why he was there and not living with a family member. His wife had died a year or two before and at that point he was working. He had children and grandchildren living in the area so I have had to ask myself if there had been a family rift or people had just lost contact with each other.
On the other hand I had ancestors who ran the poorhouse in Dundee and are well documented. When they died they were missed greatly by the local community and family.

A good site to visit for histories of Poorhouses/Workhouses in Scotland is  www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?Scotland/UnionsScotland.shtml

Just as an example - the East Poorhouse in Dundee, which was run by some of my ancestors gives maps, information about when it was built, photographs, 1881 census records.

The site also gives a good overview of the 1845 Scottish Poor Law Act and the differences between Scotland and England/Wales when administering relief. The drawing shows a Model Poorhouse Plan for Town Parishes, 1847.

OWOH - Magic Carpet Ride - update

This  event is proving interesting. Lots of people to meet and interesting things to learn about. Lots of countries visited on my little supersonic carpet. I've even met someone from Scotland with the same surname as my grandmother :)
Our lovely crystal cookie jar - picked out specially for the occasion -  is filling up at a respectable rate. I will be announcing the winner of the drawing on 15th February. 10 HOURS OF GENEALOGY/FAMILY HISTORY ASSISTANCE.
The rest of the items in the photograph are just to make things more interesting to look at. The bonnie wee baby looking adoringly at her mother is MOI, aged about 1 month :) (That was taken a looooong time ago.) The tartan book in the background is entitled "Scottish Songs" and was a gift to my grandmother from her sister-in-law in 1917. The double photo frame shows (we think) two different images of my great grandmother with her mother and grandmother.

Writing a short story and Who Do You Think You Are?

Okay so it's February and many people's thoughts turn to romance.
Do you know how your parents met? Has it been written down?
It's a great way to start of your family history and guess who might like to read this "tale of romance" ....... your kids (if you have any) :)
If you have children have you told them yet how you and your spouse met ?
When I asked my mother how my grandparents met I was somewhat shocked to discover that she had no idea. She had asked but they did not tell ...... just grinned at each other :)
My dad's parents met through her sister and his best friend dating each other.

If you like to scrap book you can "pretty up" the story with items that date from the time they met.

"Who Do You Think You Are?" which is mighty popular in the old homeland hits the tiny screens here in March. It'll be interesting to see if it an exact replica or if a US twist is done to it. If this gets to our local channels I am going to be one happy camper and we have TIVO if it is aired at a silly time :)

Snow Day Activities

It's been a few years since snow has fallen in abundance in middle Tennessee so when it started falling on Friday morning I was not expecting too much. However ....... 4-5" by the middle of Saturday (maybe more) was not to shabby and looks crisp, sparkly, and lovely.
Then the phone calls and e-mails started :) This is cancelled, that is cancelled, put this one on hold, we'll be re-arranging the date, we will be closed etc. etc. etc.
There is no church today and I was scheduled to co-teach the 5th Sunday lesson about Genealogy and Family History to prepare for the next few weeks of Sunday School lessons.
So what's a person to do with that block of free time? I decided to visit a genealogy blog (while listening to General Conference DVD's) which turned into a blog hop and it's all Sue's fault http://excavatingformyroots.blogspot.com/ Her blog is very simply laid out but once I got into the links section it took me all over the place and proved quite fascinating.
So here I sit listening to Elder Scott and his beautiful talk about genealogy and temple work and reading (about dust bunnies at) http://yougogenealogygirls.blogspot.com/ I confess it was the title of the blog that got me hooked and I will be visiting again.

Scottish Miners

There's a long tradition of mining in Scotland. Dangerous and labor intensive work. A number of my ancestors were miners so when I found http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/ I was happy to see a decent site related to the subject.
Early miners, and their families, were "bound" to the colliery and owner by an Act of Parliament set in 1606. This basically meant a miner could not move from one colliery to another without written consent from his "master". If he did try he could be reclaimed within a year and a day.
Owners of mines could also apprehend those they considered to be beggars and vagabonds and put them to work in the mines.

Mining was not initially an underground profession. In it's formative years coal was quarried above ground and often near salt-pans. Often the whole family was involved in the mining process with the older members hewing the coal and the younger carrying it away in baskets.
Young children did not receive much in the way of formal education, usually being removed from school between the ages of 7-9.
There's an interactive museum, The Scottish Mining Museum, at Newtongrange near Edinburgh http://www.scottishminingmuseum.com/ which I've been told is an interesting place to visit. Look in the links section of the web site for lots of information and places to contact.
The largest collection of coal mining records can be found at http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/coalmining.asp
The photograph is from "The Industries of Scotland Their Rise, Progress, and Present Conditions" by David Bremner (1869).

National Trust Names

So here's a fun activity.
Most people associate The National Trust with historical buildings and gardens but did you know you can name search?
http://www.nationaltrustnames.org.uk/
Click on the link, search for a surname, pick the year and surname. What happens next? Try it and see. I loved it. Might be a fun page to add to my family history project.

One World One Heart Event - Magic Carpet Ride

There is a super worldwide event going on over at A Whimsical Bohemian and I have decided to join in. Starts today and runs through 15th February.
One World One Heart is the brainchild of Lisa Swifka who, in 2007, had the idea to host an event linking bloggers together. It has grown with each year and attracts a diverse group of people willing to share their talents and get to know each other.

Have you ever wanted to find out more about your ancestors but don't know how, or where, to start?
Let me help you with a gift of 10 HOURS OF ASSISTANCE.
I'll help you get started and show you some ways to organize your information.
You need a computer available to do this.

All you have to do is leave a comment for a drawing AT THIS POST ONLY with your e-mail address so I can contact you. The winner will be announced on 15th February.

Genealogy has taken me on my own "Magic Carpet Ride" over the years. I've found, and been found by, relatives in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, South Africa, England, Ireland, and other places round our wonderful planet. It's been a joy to interact with them and learn more of my heritage along the way. I recently met one of my New Zealand cousins when we were both in Scotland at the same time !!!!!! Fabulous experience.

So journey on over to http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/ and join in the fun. Then hop on your magic carpet and explore some wonderful sites.

Update - Hi all thanks for visiting. My entry is now closed. The winner will be announced on Monday afternoon.

Census 2010

Happy New Year and welcome to a new decade.
To kick things off it's time for another US census to happen. Short form.
13 "Portrait of America" buses started touring today (4th January) with information and will show up at events until April.
http://2010census.gov/2010census/index.php