Why didn't I think of this before?

[fudge stripe cookays]

So since the move north, we've been hemorrhaging money.

I haven't had as much genealogy budget as before, although I have been able to take more quickie trips within the state to knock down some brick walls, so THAT has been helpful.

The night of the 30th, I was sitting around doing haphazard research as I tend to, many times through googling the names I'm looking for and seeing what comes up. One of the hits I got was for a very very distant cousin's Yahoo group for another branch.

I was struck by a thunderbolt. How else to unite all these disparate elements from all over the country, and let them spread the word on their own than to have them all communicating and sharing information?

I hadn't really thought about it before now, because it was only a person here and there that I'd gotten in touch with. When I went to send the e-mail invites out to the cousins who were online (this doesn't even count the oldsters who aren't up on technology), there were over 70 people!

I had been considering a family reunion, but didn't know how in God's name I could possibly pull it off with no help, especially when trying to finish the book at the same time. E-mail was great, but too compartmentalized with individualized folks, and haphazard. I think I may have finally found a way to do this! I've uploaded tons of pictures, created polls with family interest topics (trying to find a volunteer for a DNA search!), links to family owned businesses for folks to patronize, and all kinds of other stuff.

I'm feeling pretty good right about now. :D

Oh-- and here's my new favorite t-shirt I think I'll have to order before my next trip to Madison: :D

[Gormy Cuss]

1. I belong to some Yahoo surname groups and it's been an invaluable way to exchange data and ideas.

The collective knowledge on a good group can really be helpful.

[fudge stripe cookays]

2. Better than just a surname, though...

We all know we're the same family, so I think we'll be even closer. Most of us are around 3rd cousins or 3rd cousins once removed.

:D

[Gormy Cuss]

3. I wish that I could organize enough cousins that way, but alas there are only a few of us

with any interest at all. :(

[Bitwit1234]

4. Rootsweb also has surname lists.

Go over to rootsweb..and check out list index you might find your surname. If not request one...that way all persons with your surname can communicate. You might find someone, or not. But it is worth a chance.

[fudge stripe cookays]

5. I prefer GenForum.

I have already found most of the historical family that I need. rootsweb is good for some things. I use them constantly for the county websites.

Now, as I bring this book forward to the modern generation, obituaries give me most of the information I'm searching for on next of kin. I'm really not finding too many people searching for my families anymore. I've found just about everybody posting queries already!

It's not often I find much on the folks with my Smith name anymore. Just too darn many of us.

Are you new to the genealogy forum? Hadn't seen you here much before a few months ago. Welcome.

[Cybergata]

6. I've tried to put as much of my research on . . .

my website as possible. The best reward for doing this is meeting cousins from all over the place who have their own information to add on. The Net is the perfect place to share genealogical information.

One really cool thing was finding a 6th or 7th cousin living in a different state whose family had the same oral history as mine did on something we both were not able to document.

Have you tried googling through google books for Smith/Smyth ancestors? I have found so much via google books recently. Of course a lot of it has to do with my maternal grandmother's English lines, although I did find the translation of a lot of Spanish document from early New Mexico on google books.

[fudge stripe cookays]

7. Ive checked as many Smith books as I can...

in real live libraries, but our family was just UNdocumented. Period. Nada. Zippo.

Something I CAN recommend though...is using books for families your family married INTO. I've done this now with Weavers and Hortons. There, plain as day, are lines I couldn't have found by myself. The first one I had a cousin refer me to not long after I found her branch. The other I stumbled into by myself.

We had TONS of double cousins in this family...brothers and sisters marrying brothers and sisters from another family. Unfortunately, ALL the town records from Newfield burned in 1875, and the church burned a few years later. So when I found a marriage date for this one couple in the LDS database, I was flummoxed. Where had this date come from? Then, I realized it must have been in a Horton family history somewhere. Sure enough! Not only had SHE married a Horton, but she also had a previously unknown SISTER who had also married a Horton!

So check this method out. It has recently become a HIGHLY profitable source of info for me!

[Bitwit1234]

8. The rootswebs list are still some of the best way to communicate

Post a request for any person researching a specific surname to contact you, thru the list or private email. Since I have been researching over six relatives have located me, and I didn't even post.

[fudge stripe cookays]

9. That's great if...

the folks you are seeking are into genealogy. Most of my posts have been out there several years with no luck. I've had to start calling strangers to introduce myself and let them know what I'm doing.

But they worked for the first year or so when I didn't have any links at all yet.