EVERNOTE ~ How it keeps my genealogy organized

I don’t know about you, but I use Evernote every single day.  Not just for my genealogy items, but for travel, gardening, recipes, receipts and more.  But we are here to talk about one way that I use it to keep track of genealogy items I need to return to.

This morning I was clearing my PC desktop of a few items that I had saved there for easy access.  I don’t like my desktop to be cluttered, so I try very hard to keep items to a minimum. That is true of both my PC desktop and my real desktop.
 
Here is a view of what my PC desktop looked like this morning.



At least half of those items need to be moved.  I’ve circled all that need to go.  My desktop will look much better by this afternoon.



Of course it’s never just one, two, three.  Because the first item I went to was the little icon that is only identified as Img_0555.



I opened it up and it turned out to be a document about a possible ancestor who served during the Revolutionary War.
 


TIP:  Don’t do what I did when I saved this image.  I did not note where it came from.  As a result I began by going online and trying to find this image and other information about Joseph Thorp from Livingston County, Connecticut.

I found quite a bit of information in a book I located on Google books, but I don’t want to work on that particular project this morning.  This book is viewable in part, on Google books, but is still in copyright as it was published in 1932.  Therefore, I cannot download a copy.

ENTER EVERNOTE!

This is when I find Evernote invaluable.

I created a note titled “Book About the Revolutionary War Records of Fairfield, CT.” 

In it, I have put notes and links so that I can return to this information and take the time to record it.

Click here to see the note I created

I currently have 2393 notes in Evernote.  I am a premium subscriber because I want to support the company.  I rarely use the upload limit available to me, but for $5 a month I like knowing I have that option.

What other types of things have I saved to Evernote that might be valuable to us as researchers?  Here are some examples from my own notes in Evernote.


Examples of Old German Handwriting and Type and a page from a yearbook that was sent to me by a cousin.


How about a newspaper article I found about my 1st cousin 4x removed marriage in 1855?  Or a list of members of the 105th infantry from the Civil War listing one of my Gillen ancestors?

I also use Evernote to keep track of all correspondence to and from cousin connections.  I found it very difficult to keep track of which contact was connected to which surname or family.  Now that they are all collected in Evernote and tagged with the surname connections, it’s very easy.  I can either forward the email to Evernote or copy and paste the text of the email or message into a note.
  
Tagging is the key to everything in using Evernote.


There are SO many other ways I use Evernote on a daily basis.  How do you use it?
 
There are many YouTube videos and books about using Evernote.  There is even a Facebook group that I belong to where we share our tips with one another. The group is Evernote Genealogists.

I look forward to hearing from you about how or if you use Evernote.

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Evernote - A Very Useful and Free Tool to Help You Organize Genealogy and Everything Else

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Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SURNAME SATURDAY–COOPER–Have I really gone back 3 more generations?

CLICK ON ANY OF THESE IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Last week I wrote about one of my brick walls on Mystery Monday – Who’s Your Daddy? – Lany Cooper Thorp 1815-1866.

I often share my blog posts on different groups as they apply to the ancestors and locations I am writing about. In this case it was the New York Genealogy Network group.  This group has been helpful in the past and this time was no different.   A comment was made and the member told me she would be going to the Cayuga Historian’s office in the next week or so.  She sent me a private message and was kind enough to offer to look for records for me.  Not only did she step up to help, but another member posted an obituary relating to this family. 

About a week later I received an email from the generous member who went to the Cayuga Historian’s office.  She had located a probate record for Jacob Cooper naming Polly Byrne as his wife and several children, including a daughter Lana.  I was SO excited to receive this information.  This gave me further evidence that Lany Cooper’s parents were Jacob Cooper and Polly Byrne, as stated on her death certificate.  Now to find more information on this family.

I spent yesterday looking online and was rewarded with historical records, newspaper articles and family trees that led to more records.  That’s all any of us can ask as we research our families.

Last evening while I was using my iPad and watching TV, I located many newspaper references to this Cooper family on Genealogy Bank, and I plan to pursue those articles this morning.

I just had to share this genealogy moment with all of you.
 
This is what I’ve discovered and will be verifying in the next several days.  Obadiah Cooper and Cornelia Gardenier are probably my 7th great grandparents.  Prior to this I had only gone as far as my 4th great grandparents, Jacob Cooper and Polly Byrne, and they had not been confirmed.

NOTE: I was able to locate the probate records that had been sent to me, on Family Search.  I have since found other records on the site for this family.  This just tells me that I should concentrate on one line at a time, more often than I do.  I admit to being very easily distracted and have shared this with you before.

If you think you may be related to anyone mentioned in this post, please contact me.  I'd love hear from you.

I hope you all have a very successful Labor Day weekend looking for your own ancestors.

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ARE YOU GETTING OFF TRACK?  Losing your focus? 

FACEBOOK - How it Can Be Very Useful in Your Research

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

HOW I SAVE COUSIN CONTACT INFO USING EVERNOTE

We all get them.  Those contacts from cousins we’ve never met.  Maybe we have a connection, maybe we don’t.  They might contact you in any number of ways:

• by email
• via Facebook
• by phone
• maybe on Pinterest or Twitter
• or maybe even by good old snail mail

HOW DO YOU KEEP THEM ALL STRAIGHT?

I definitely struggled with this question for many years.  I first started saving all communication in surname folders in my email. Then, I began saving their names, numbers and addresses in my contacts in yahoo or on my smart phone.  I would add little notes indicating which line of the family they were related to.

HOWEVER, those methods didn’t seem to be a good long term working solution.  For one thing I couldn’t do a surname search if I’d forgotten the name of a particular cousin.  I mean let’s face it, they usually don’t have the same surname as the ancestor we are related to.

I thought about using Excel and that wasn’t a bad idea.  After all, you can sort and search in that program pretty easily.  But, I wanted more than that.  I wanted to be able to store all the communication between myself and those cousins, in one place, searchable and easily organized.

Then it came to me.  EVERNOTE!!! 

I’m a daily user of Evernote for everything from genealogy tips, storing my blog posts, setting appointments to recipes and landscape ideas.

I started this process not long ago and here is what I’m doing.

1.  I open a new note in Evernote
2.  I copy and paste any messages between myself and the cousin contact.
3.  I tag the notes with the appropriate surname.
4.  I annotate the notes with my own messages regarding the contact or the pictures.

NOTE:  I have redacted names & emails to protect those cousins who may not want their information made public.

Here are some of my cousin notes stored in Evernote. 

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT) 

THESE TWO IMAGES REPRESENT BACK & FORTH COMMUNICATION

Another thing you may have wondered about.

How do you save those private messages you receive from cousins on Facebook?

Again, they often contain information we want to use later or even photos.

I use Evernote for that too.  Here’s how:

• Open a new note in Evernote
• Copy the text of the message
• Paste it into the note, tag it and save it
• You can also copy and paste any images the same way

Here is the private message I received from a cousin connection on FB.
 
Kind of difficult to read that information she shared with me, isn’t it?


When I click on that image it opens in a new window in Facebook.
I purposely left all the black around it to show you exactly what you will see.



When I right click on the image, these are my choices.



The bottom line here, is that there are many ways you can save that precious information. 

Whether you choose Evernote, Excel, Word or One Note, just be sure you don’t lose track of those cousins.

NOTE:  If you have Evernote Premium you can forward emails to your Evernote account directly from you personal email.  Each Evernote account has it's own email.  Find yours by going to "Tools" and "Account Info."

I’d love to hear how you keep track of cousin contacts.  Please share with me here via a comment or in your own blog and then share the link.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
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Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TUESDAY’S TIP–The “Other” message box in Facebook

Had I not checked my “Other” message box in Facebook yesterday, I would have missed out on an INCREDIBLE cousin connection.  In fact, the message had been posted on March 29th and I didn’t find it until April 5th.
  
I have been guilty of not checking the “other” message box for as long as a year or two.  Why?  Because I simply forgot about it.  A reminder in one of the groups I belong to has had me checking it more often. 

This latest message was from a cousin on my Dad’s side of the family and in two days I have chatted with him and exchanged phone numbers and emails.  He has shared photos and newspaper articles with me, along with dates and a letter from another cousin dating back to 1938. 

I’ll tell you right here and now.  I will NEVER forget that “other” box again. 
 
You can find the “Other” messages by clicking on “Messages” in the left hand column of your home page.  Yours may be in a different location on your list.  I have moved my messages so they are right under News Feed. 

Click on the word “Messages” and that will bring up all your messages.  Up near the top, click on “Other.”  This is where messages go if you are not currently friends with someone. 

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

That’s it.  That’s all there is to it.  Maybe there won’t be any messages there for a day, a week, a month or longer.  But, you can bet I will be checking on a regular basis.

I wish you lots of cousin connections.

Here is another post I wrote about Facebook that may be of interest.
FACEBOOK - HOW IT CAN BE VERY USEFUL IN YOUR RESEARCH
HAPPY HUNTING,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

HOW TO FIND PROBATE RECORDS ONLINE

ONE OF THE BEST SOURCES THAT WE CAN ACCESS AS GENEALOGISTS, ARE THE PROBATE RECORDS OF OUR ANCESTORS

HERE IS THE PROBATE INDEX CARD FOR THE ELIZABETH BURGESS ESTATE.  YOU CAN SEE THE FILE NUMBER IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER AND THAT IT NAMES HER GRANDDAUGHTER, SUSAN MILNE AND THE PARTICULAR COURT WHERE THE RECORD WAS FILED, ALONG WITH THE YEAR - 1884.

Here is just a sample of what they can tell us:

• They can contain some solid family connections
• Solve brick walls
• Give us clues as to the financial status of our ancestor
• Tell us if a particular child was “out of favor”
• Give us dates, names & places
• Indicate who were trusted friends based on the executor or witnesses

So, when was the last time you located a probate record for your ancestor?

Have you ever located one?

During my recent research, I was on the Facebook page for Detroit Society for Genealogical Research.

They had two recent articles/posts regarding finding probate records.  One article was posted on October 31 and the next on November 1.  While these particular posts are about Michigan, this information can be used with probate records for any state for which Family Search has records available.  Here is the link:  United_States_Probate_Records

One thing about having a lot of records online is that some of us may not be as well versed in “browsing” through records as we used to be.  Prior to the internet, microfilm and microfiche had to be used to find records.  This involved a LOT of scrolling through record after record.  It’s much easier, in my opinion, to scroll through online records, than to use the microfilm readers.
 
How many of you don’t look at records on familysearch when you see “browse records” rather than the little camera icon?

I have to admit, I was guilty of that, until recently.

Here are the links I referred to from the Detroit Society for Genealogical Research.

Probate Records on Family Search - Part 1



Probate Records on Family Search - Part 2



WHAT’S NEXT?
I located a probate number for my 3rd great grandmother, Elizabeth BURGESS, while searching under the name MILNE.  Why?  Because her granddaughter, Susan married into my MILNE family.  The record shown at the top of this post is the one I located.

I was SO excited.  I went from the index to the actual records and began my search.  I couldn’t wait to find out who she might mention in her probate record.

BUT, AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT….
One of the years that IS NOT in this group of scanned images is 1884.  Yup, no record.  I was very disappointed.  However, I didn’t let that stop me from trying to obtain this record.  I live in California.  No trip to Detroit is in my near future. 
How was I going to obtain a copy of this probate record?

HERE'S HOW
I have friends and family in Detroit.  I contacted a Facebook friend from the group Detroit Genealogy and she has offered to go to the courthouse and get this record for me.  She hopes to have it by the end of the week.  Once I get it, you can bet I’ll be writing about it.
 
TIP:  It’s because of situations like this that I so highly recommend that every genealogist use social media as a source for contacts.  I can’t tell you the wealth of information I have gained and the records I have obtained because of Facebook contacts. 
Please see this post I wrote about the value of Facebook for your genealogy research.

FACEBOOK - HOW IT CAN BE VERY USEFUL IN YOUR RESEARCH

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Happy Hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE TO STATE RECORDS

This interesting bit of information was shared today on the Facebook site for Genealogist.com and I wanted to share it with you.

I was not aware of this until I saw this post.  Every state in the U.S. has a website that shows the various records available for that state and where to locate them.  The information is broken into counties on each state page.  Or you can click on the different types of records listed in the left column.

So for Michigan you would go to www.michigan-genealogy.com and be able to scroll to the county you are looking for. 

(Click on this image to enlarge it)


I found this quite handy and easy to use.  And, because you need only change the state name in the URL it is easy to navigate to different states.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

FACEBOOK – HOW IT CAN BE VERY USEFUL IN YOUR RESEARCH

This past week has been a quiet one for me as far as blogging.  I had knee surgery on March 21st and haven’t really had that inspiration I usually have to write.  

However, this “down time” has given me plenty of time to read other blogs and interact on the genealogy Facebook groups to which I belong.

Being a member of a group on Facebook that is oriented to genealogy or an aspect of research is not only helpful, it’s fun. 

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES? 

• You get to interact with others who are also researching their families.
• You learn by the questions posed by others in the group and the answers to them.
• You meet new cousins.
• You learn about websites you may not have known about.
• You get assistance with documents you might have questions about.
• You learn about a particular area where your ancestors lived
• You make new friends.

I’m sure the list could go on, but you have the general idea.  

My first experience with a Facebook genealogy group involved an area in southeastern Ohio.  Many many of my ancestors are from the Lawrence County, Ohio area.  They also cross over to Cabell County, West Virginia and into Ashland or Boyd County, Kentucky.  
All those places are right on the Ohio River and easily accessed from one another.  

I had always used The Lawrence Register website, created by Martha Martin and the sister site Miles, Shute & Kouns created by Sharon Milch Kouns.  They have given me a lot of good information on my ancestors.  

Then I heard about a Facebook group created by Martha, called The Lawrence Register.  I can’t tell you exactly when this Facebook group was created, but I would say it’s been a good 4 or 5 years.

From there I branched out and joined the following groups on Facebook:

Allegheny County PA Genealogy
Cabell, Wayne and Lincoln County Genealogy    
Detroit Genealogy group
Boyd County, Kentucky
Mifflin County Historical Society
Daughters of the American Revolution

Other helpful group are:

The Organized Genealogist
Technology for Genealogy
Evernote Genealogists 

I have linked all of the groups above, so simply click on them in order to view them.

Now, what groups or pages may be of interest to you? 
 
Just go up to the search box at the top of Facebook and type in a place or something you want to find.  Let’s try it.

I typed in “Macomb County” a county just north of Detroit, in Michigan.

Here are the choices that came up:



You can see that only the top one seems to fit our category for genealogy.

Let’s try another search for a larger county, San Diego, California.



Certainly a few more choices because this is a much bigger county than Macomb. 

You can do the very same thing for Historical Societies, Libraries etc.  Pretty much every organization now has a presence on Facebook.

How active these pages or groups are will vary widely.  Some are pages you simply click on the “Like” icon and you will get notified when there is something new.  

Others are actual groups that are either open (anyone can be a member) or closed (you must be invited or accepted by someone already in the group).

Some of the groups have strict guidelines as to what members are allowed to discuss.  An example is the Organized Genealogist group.  The administrators in this group want to keep it specifically oriented to organization.  I am all for that and like it that way.  It’s why I joined that group when it first began.

What happens if administrators don’t keep track? All of a sudden you have people asking for research assistance, talking about their family problems, asking for lookups, complaining about another website or asking for advice on which printer to buy.  While those may be valid questions, they are not relevant to organizing.  There are Facebook pages that are appropriate for those questions.  

In fact, there is a list of genealogy Facebook groups and pages.  Here is a link to that list, created by Katherine R. Wilson, GENEALOGY LINKS ON FACEBOOK.  You can download the PDF and there are hyperlinks to all of these pages.  What a great resource, thanks Katherine!

Another list that is common on these Facebook groups is a list of the Surnames Being Researched and who is researching them. Is that a great way to find cousins or what?

Just yesterday on the Lawrence Register group one of the members posted an old deed from 1842. Because I have been a member for a few years the person who posted this deed tagged me because she is familiar with some of the surnames I am researching.  My brother is also a member of this group and was also tagged.  

Here is the document.  This document contains several of my ancestor's names.



Would you like to have someone post a document like this?  I had never seen this and was more than happy to have it. 

I could post so many more examples.  People post pictures, land records, marriage, death & birth records and just about anything you can think of.  Sometimes someone has trouble reading a word or two in a particular document and they will ask for help.  They are blessed with many responses and usually the problem is solved.

If you have not yet taken advantage of this wonderful genealogical resource, I urge you to do so.  

Let me know what you find.  I’m sure there are a lot of pages and groups I know nothing about.  It’s a big country and a big world.  

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall 

(All rights reserved, no use without permission)

OFFICE CLOSET CLEAN OUT & ORGANIZATION PROJECT–DO YOU HAVE ONE OF “THOSE” SPACES?

If you do have one of “those” spaces, then you are not alone and there is hope.

Recognize any of these items?

• What are those things still doing in my house? 
• Why do I need them? 
• Why do I keep them?

We all love to chase those ancestors.  We can sit for hours at the computer and search, save, record and search some more.

BUT, how do you keep your area, your computer files, your folders, your desk….everything, organized and neat?

Isn’t that the big question?

It is for most of the genealogists I know.  

What I am doing right now is reorganizing my office.  I am fortunate to be able to have a room in our home that is my own little genealogy haven.  However, it doesn’t matter the size of your area, it still must be organized.  How else are you going to be able to find anything?

I was doing pretty well in my office area, but there is a closet in this room too.  And I will confess right now…..IT WAS A HUGE MESS!!  Nearly 20 years of living in this house and using that closet as the catch all for everything.  It took it’s toll  But, hey, if I didn’t open the door then I didn’t have to think about it, right?  WRONG!

I decided this was the year.  That closet was getting cleaned out no matter what.

It began with the emptying of everything from that horrible space.  So much stuff.  Seriously?  Tax records in boxes, going back to 1984.  Old computer books, floppy disks, modems, hard drives, dresses that I didn’t have a space for, old uniforms, you name it, we had it in that closet.  The rest of our home doesn’t look like this, I swear.

Here is a picture of what I’m talking about.  

That space is completely empty now.  Of course, much of it is out in the office area.  But, I have thrown away countless numbers of things that I definitely DO NOT NEED.

Here is the second big bin of trash I have gotten rid of.  The first one was over flowing and this one will be too.



HOW WILL THIS BENEFIT ME AND MY RESEARCH?
1.  You WILL locate items, documents, photos that you have forgotten about.
2.  You WILL be able to locate everything without hunting.
3.  You WILL actually be able to research without the guilt of thinking “gosh, I should be scanning, sorting, cleaning, filing or whatever.”
4.  You will just feel better, more calm and happier.  Unless disorganization is what you like and there are those folks who do.  Nothing wrong with that, it’s how they are comfortable.

Here is what that closet looks like now.



Can I get a big YIPPEEE!!!!

Can you believe the difference?  I painted it a tan color to contrast with the shelves.  We (my helpful husband) still has to install the baseboard and a new light fixture. The shelves were purchased at the Container Store during their yearly Elfa Shelf sale.  I have used that system in our master closet and have been very happy with it now for about 15 years.
 
It’s really coming along and it’s only been 2 weeks since the project began.  

Here are some of the treasures I have located so far:

• Negatives of photos of my Dad’s first marriage from 1934.
• Pictures of my brother and me when we were kids in Florida.
• Documents that were somehow never filed in their proper place.
• Pictures of me and my Dad from back in the 1970’s.
• An album of photos that belonged to my husband’s grandmother.  We had obtained that album when his Mom died 20 years ago and not seen it since then.
• Lots of other miscellaneous items that I won’t bore you with.

HOW CAN YOU GET MORE ORGANIZED?

JOIN A GROUP - Whether it’s a small area or a big area. It really helps to have the support and encouragement of other genealogists who have similar issues. 
There is a FACEBOOK group called THE ORGANIZED GENEALOGIST that is absolutely wonderful.  This group was started just last year and has grown by hundreds of people.  We all support, share, confess and help one another.  I highly recommend it.

START SOMEWHERE  - Pick up any pile of papers you have sitting out and begin.  Tell yourself you will spend 10 minutes or 15 or whatever works for you, and do just the tasks that involve organizing.  It might be filing.  It might be scanning.  It might be throwing things away.  Taking small steps helps you to not become overwhelmed.  And, think how good you’ll feel at the end of that time.

REMEMBER THE RULE – Only touch each piece of paper ONCE.  Don’t pick it up and move it to another space or pile.  There are THREE things you can do with a piece of paper or document.

1.  ACT ON IT
2.  FILE IT
3.  TOSS IT

That’s it.  It seems simple, but we all know how hard it is sometimes.

I encourage you to start your own organizing project.  Please don’t forget to tell me about your progress and successes.  

STAY TUNED
I will post a picture of that closet once it’s all organized.  I’m hoping that will be by the end of this week.  Wish me luck.

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Happy organizing and happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall