I have an empty nest. And, with an empty nest, freedom; what does a
genealogy hobbyist do with freedom?
Travel of course. So this July I am
off on a mini-family history tour. Queue
the Beatles Magical HISTORY (err, Mystery) Tour.
I
took my first mini-family history tour back in December; we were in the
Philadelphia Pennsylvania region for other reasons, so decided that we'd take a
day trip into the city to visit the cemetery where my Great Grandmother
Elizabeth Ann (ROWBOTTOM) BEARDSELL is buried and to visit the Free Library of
Philadelphia. While we were reasonably
successful in our family history endeavor, I don't believe that we were as
successful as we could have been, if we had taken the time to PLAN our
trip. Both my husband and I have other
ancestors in that area, and if we had just done a little planning, I think we
could have accomplished far more. In our
defense though, we hadn't really thought about combining our trip with our
research - we were in the area for other reasons entirely.
This
July, we will again be in Pennsylvania to visit family over the 4th of
July. We will be in and around the area of
Columbia, Luzerne, Montour and Monroe Counties; the area that my paternal
ancestors are predominately from. So,
we've decided to include a family history tour in the itinerary.
Okay,
so I better get planning; but, how do you plan a research trip? I suppose it really comes down to your
personal research needs and style. So
for me, this is how I set about it . . .
1.
Request time off from work
2.
Make lodging reservations
3.
Make arrangements for furry friend to
be cared for in your absence
1 - 3 are
fairly straightforward
4.
Determine the scope and breadth of your
research.
The
location we'd be in pretty much set this for us; we'd be focusing our research
on the LEARN family.
5.
Create a research log. This is what I'll use to keep track of . . .
·
Address and contact information
·
Expenses
·
Names of ancestors who are buried in
the cemeteries we'd be visiting
·
Last known home address for LEARN
ancestors. Wouldn't it be fun to get
pictures of their home, if they are still there?
6.
Create a photo log. I'll use this to keep an accounting of the
photos I've taken and why along with any notes
Research Log
Photo Log
7.
Okay my next step was to take a look at
the LEARNs on my family tree, and with the help of OneNote, really take a look
at what I know and how I know it. Thank
you Crista Cowan, that mantra is ingrained on my brain. Which isn't a bad thing.
I created
a notebook for the LEARN surname. I then
created a top tab for each individual and within each individual tab, I created
side tabs to record pertinent genealogical information that I had on each of
them.
Here's an
example
The, General
Information page that you see here, captures at a glance, the timeline for
Margaret Ethel LEARN from birth to death.
See tabs on right-hand side . . .
·
Birth
·
Marriage
·
Death
·
US Federal Census
Within
each, I have 'captured' the source documentation that I hold; either in my
private holdings or that I have located online and saved. Each page includes a transcription of those
source documents as well as source citations.
I not only want to give credit, where credit is due, but I also want to
remember where I found that information.
While
this may seem duplicative of the information stored and saved on both
ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker, I can honestly tell you that physically
going through the steps of transcribing
each source document and creating a timeline, will help you hone in on what
you're missing and where you need to go next with your research. The other benefit of physically transcribing
a document is that you may actually come across information you missed on
initial reading.
8.
Having completed steps 1 - 7, I am now
ready for my family history tour. I am
really looking forward to it and I look forward to sharing the results when I
return.
Okay,
have I forgotten something? Should I be
doing something else to prepare for our trip?
I
am interested in learning how you plan for a family history tour.
Tracy
