August 2021 – GenealogyAtHeart.com

Genealogy Pronunciation Trick

My blog is late today as I had unexpected tech issues, the bane of my existence! This past week, first my husband and then I, noticed an “enter code” button that appeared on any Microsoft product we were using on our desktops. It finally dawned on us that the educator license we had with Microsoft was being removed since we both retired from our academic careers this month. This was a totally unexpected situation as we had paid for a license for our computers that didn’t expire. Microsoft only allows military veterans to continue and not educators. Who knew?! Took the time this morning to buy two new licenses – one for my business and the other for home use. The Microsoft site was not working well and wouldn’t allow me to save my domain info so I’m going to have to go back on later. After the slow download I freaked out when I opened Word and only documents from 2019 showed up. I was able to open two docs from my desktop I just created in the last two weeks and once they opened, they showed in the list when I reopened Word. I then went to Dropbox and opened a pdf from January and a doc from last August. Once opened, they show in the Word list. I don’t understand this at all but as long as I can open older documents as I need them, I’m good.

Here’s an update on my Bible blog from last week – got a heartwarming thank you from my distant cousin who will be receiving the Landfair Bible. I’m so glad it found a good home, away from hurricanes, humidity and mold. Remember this story this week when you run into a rude person – there are a lot of good people out there, just not everyone!

Now, for today….

I had a wonderful 2 day Professional Management Conference hosted by APG. It was just awesome reconnecting with other professional genealogists in the break out sessions and the lectures were informative. I plan to be adding a page to Genealogyatheart.com with my lectures soon. Unfortunately, the terms of my retirement do not allow me to “teach” in any format for the next 6 months so that’s all on hold for awhile. The conference did nudge me into making proposals to my state genealogy group with ideas for journal articles. I’ll be writing 3 for upcoming issues. Working on the first, along with the Bible interaction last week, gave me the idea for today’s blog.

Let’s think of the Louis Armstrong song, You Say Tomato. Genealogy is fraught with pronunciation problems. When I spoke to the lady from Ohio about the Bible, I told her I did not live close to either Lima (lee mah) or Celina (Seh lee nah). She replied she didn’t either and then laughed. In Ohio, those places are known as (lie mah) and (sel lie nah).

This got me thinking about why it’s sometimes so difficult for us to find an ancestor’s former residence. We aren’t seeing it in print – we’re hearing it. Same issue with census enumerators hearing our ancestors and misunderstanding their English as a second language pronunciation. This week, I’ve been researching a local family from Greece. Their name evolved from the original spelling from the first generation to how the name is pronounced in English for the second generation. Loved the Find-A-Grave note that was added by the memorial creator explaining why the names were different!

To complicate the situation, the same word can be pronounced differently depending on the location. One of my children spent time in both Grenada’s. That would be Gre nae dah, West Indies and Gre nah dah, Spain.

Next time you are stuck on a location or surname, try thinking about it in a variety of ways. Type the word in Google and add “pronunciation.” Try this for “Lima Ohio pronunciation” and Lima Peru pronunciation.” Pretty neat trick!

Genealogy Acts of Kindness or Scam?

Yesterday I received an Ancestry.com message from a woman in Ohio who had found a Bible that had a name that appears in my public tree – Landfair. She said she would mail it to me if I would pick up the cost. I was warned that the Bible was heavy.

Unfortunately, there are so many scams today how do you know if the offer is legit or not? She provided a phone number. I Googled it and it was for Ohio but not for her. She had provided her first and last name and checking that out, she was a member of a genealogy organization to which I also belong. She did live in the area where she reportedly found the Bible.

I first messaged her back on Ancestry but after several hours, she hadn’t replied. I decided to give her a call.

I’m glad I took the risk…she was a sweet woman who said she finally was able to get out and enjoy an interest that she pursued BC (before covid) – reuniting found items to descendants. She said she found my public tree first because I had the most citations for the family. She also reached out to a few others who had the name in their tree.

The oldest documented individual in the Bible was my first cousin three times removed. I knew of a closer descendant so I texted the kind woman an email address and told her to mention my name. That individual lives close and would save the finder the issue of mailing.

It was an absolutely important find for that line as there is NO marriage record to be found other than what was recorded in the Bible.

Kudos to all of you wonderful people who spread genealogy acts of kindness!

Wills and Probate

Did you know that August is Make-A-Will month?! I had no idea until I received spam this morning that it was time for me to make a will. I checked it out and sure enough, this is the month to complete this important but disdained task.

Funny how as family historians/genealogists we LOVE wills and probate but personally, not so much.

Earlier this week I was volunteering at my local hospital when I overheard a family discussing a terminal family member. The individual hadn’t yet died but the family members present, 2 grandchildren and 3 siblings of the patient, were in a discussion over who was going to get what after the death. I tried really hard to ignore the conversation as it was not only none of my business, it was disheartening.

A grandchild reported that the patient had expressed what items was to go to what individual. One of the patient’s children said, “Fine,” but then went on to state they were going over to the patient’s home later that day to pick up items believed to be inherited. The other adult children then decided they were going to go, too.

I have no ending to the story. Perhaps the patient recovered, went home and discovered items missing. Maybe the family members would have returned them before the patient returned home. More likely, the individual died and family members arriving after the death discovered items they thought belonged to them were gone.

Personally, hubby and I have experienced family issues after a loved one’s death. It is not pretty and can destroy relationships. These events happened even though there was a will in most cases.

Although I still miss my mom who passed in 2001, I was fortunate that she had planned well for her final days. When she was first diagnosed with Alzheimers, she asked me to attend a meeting she had scheduled regarding disposition of her remains as she wanted to be cremated. She had previously made a will. The only problem was she couldn’t decide where the cremains would be housed. I never got an answer so my husband and I decided to inter them in the family plot where she grew up and where her parents and grandparents were buried.

Several years ago, I convinced hubby we needed to make our final arrangements to spare our adult kids the task. We updated our wills and added a Living Will, Power of Attorney, and Designated Health Care Surrogates. The kids each received a copy. We had both children notarize the form regarding our body’s donation to science. We purchased a space in our city cemetery and selected a funeral home that will receive our cremains once medical school students are done with them. The funeral home has our obits. We placed our children’s names on our property and bank accounts so that they can close out any debts or make needed repairs seamlessly.

To avoid the scenario that I overheard at the hospital, I have placed stickers on the bottom of several items that have been in the family for years and I want passed down to the next generation. The labels state who was the original owner of the item. I don’t care which of my children get what items and there isn’t a lot to fight over. Unlabeled items they can keep, sell or donate.

The death of a loved one is never easy. The lack of a will makes the situation even more difficult. Make time to make your final arrangements soon. You’re not only helping your closest family members, generations to come will discover your will and thank you for that.

IMPORTANT-Ancestry.com Term Changes

Nothing like having a limited time to make an important decision during the Dog Days of Summer. Thanks a lot, Ancestry.com!

You may or may not have received an email message from Ancestry.com earlier this week noting that they have updated their terms of conditions. You may have noticed the message under the ribbon (shown above) on Ancestry.com this week.

Interestingly, Ancestry.com never mentioned what the change(s) was/were in the email. I thought that odd and had decided I would check it out this weekend. Usually noncommunication is a tipoff that the change is important. Organizations know that most folks don’t take the time to read the fine print so sending an email with limited information makes the change more likely to pass quietly.

Before I had a chance to review the document I began receiving emails from family members that bordered on hysteria about the changes.

I would not do the situation justice in explaining the term changes so I’m referring you to blog articles found here and here. It is vital that you read these ASAP as there is only a small window of time for you to make a decision and act.

My decision was to remove all photos/documents I had uploaded to Ancestry.com of LIVING people. My reason is that, although the photo was given to me by family members, I do not have explicit permission to give Ancestry.com permanent permission to own the picture.

I am not concerned over photos of the DECEASED as they don’t have rights anyway. I consider them part of history. I don’t like it that Ancestry.com “owns” the photos for perpetuity but I’d rather the photos be available somewhere rather than lost forever.

Like me, you’ve probably uploaded photos to Ancestry.com and have had them saved by others without giving you credit. I can always identify mine as I have a unique way I save them. Although I would prefer if someone asked permission first, I understand that by my uploading to anywhere on the internet the possibility that someone will use the photo, claim it as their own, etc, exists. I accepted that risk. The Ancestry.com change will make Ancestry.com the owner forever.

Forever is a long time! Does this mean that Ancestry.com may someday take me to court for using a photo I have uploaded, even though I have the original in my possession? I doubt it. Personally, I don’t even think Ancestry.com will last “forever.” Who knows what the world will look like next year, let alone in 5021.

The audacity of the term change did make me consider deleting my Ancestry.com tree. I calmed down and emailed my concerned family members what my decision was regarding photos/documents.

I thought that would have been the end of it but it turned out it was the tip of the melting iceberg. I began receiving responses that they wanted various information they had shared with me over the past 20 plus years removed. I always cite my sources and that was what the bone of contention was. The requests were for removal of their name/email address. Since it’s typical to cite an email exchange with the sender’s name [email address} to receiver’s name [email address] this request totally threw me. I did agree to alter the citation to remove the individual who requested the information be stricken.

I then got a request to remove correspondence from someone who was deceased by a two down the line family member. The deceased was well aware that I had posted the information as she had requested my help in finding documents. She once had permission to make changes to my tree. Her email address is no longer active.

I could have pointed all this out to the requestor but I decided to just take the high road and remove the information.

Which gets me back to a blog article I wrote in June about saving your tree. Here’s another reason to keep a tree somewhere completely updated that you and you alone have access. My article was about synching Ancestry.com to RootsMagic which resided on my computer and is saved in a Cloud as a backup. I did remove everything from Ancestry.com that was requested of me which took several hours. I DID NOT remove it from my RootsMagic tree that is still synched with Ancestry.

If I open RootsMagic and click the Ancestry leaf motif on the ribbon, any changes made on Ancestry.com will appear as an option to update my RootsMagic tree. I don’t want that to change RootsMagic as I want the citations and the pictures of the living all in one place.

My “Main Tree” on Ancestry.com is no longer that. I did consider renaming it to Sort Of Main Tree but decided I don’t need to waste more time because of Ancestry.com’s decision.

Please take some time to review the blog articles and the new policy. Consult with your family on the way to go forward. Do this soon before the policy takes effect.

Emancipation Day

Today is Emancipation Day to commemorate those who were freed from slavery.

Emancipation has another meaning, that of liberation typically from a legal, social or political restriction. When my husband and I decided to retire as longtime public school employees we hadn’t been aware that the day we selected, August 1, 2021, that we termed our “emancipation” day was actually already memorialized as the day to remember those who had been enslaved.

Reading the news this morning about emancipation made me realize this was an extra special day to celebrate freedom!

For those of you who follow my blog you know my life often has some odd coincidences occur. Someone told me that happens to me because I tell everyone I know about the weird situations so they just keep coming. I guess the theory is that by talking and writing about them I become a magnet for more. I don’t know about that but I do think this is kind of strange… Friday, March 13, 2020 was my last day working onsite at a school. The following day I was supposed to be volunteering at a library with my local genealogy society to help patrons with their brick walls. The event was cancelled at the last minute because of covid-19. Although the monthly meetings and trainings moved to Zoom, the brick wall event was not rescheduled until yesterday. Friday, July 30 happened to be my last day forever in education and the following day, the brick wall event which was supposed to be back at the library got moved to Zoom because I live in the fasted growing covid area in the country.

Too bad we couldn’t meet in person as it would have been a wonderful bookend of the beginning and termination of the pandemic.

Although I’m leaving the K-12 education field permanently, I’m definitely not abandoning genealogy. I’ll continue to blog, consult with clients, volunteer at my local historical society and provide research. Due to my termination contract, I’m unable to “teach” for the next year in any capacity but plan to return to genealogical lectures eventually.

In addition to spending more time on genealogy, I plan to invest time in my local community. Due to my previously long commute I was never able to do that. I plan on volunteering at my local hospital and with other community events.

Hubby and I are so looking forward to this next chapter in our lives. It is a privilege having you continue to follow my blog as I head off in a new direction. Stay tuned for my new adventures!