The Problem of Family Not Wanting Your Genealogy Research

Several years ago I came to the realization that no one in my immediate family wants my 40 plus years of research on our genealogy. A few are mildly interested in hearing the more exciting stories of blacksheep ancestors or famous relatives or an intriguing mystery. No one but me does actual research into our ancestors.

That means that my binders and file folders full of documents and charts are not something anyone is going to take and preserve when I'm gone. I'm sure many of you are facing the same problem. So...what to do?

My solution has been to create family books for each surname. I keep them short, no more than 30 pages for each book. Some surnames have multiple volumes and each volume is for one generation including children. These books are what I call "Coffee Table" books, meant to be picked up and thumbed through casually. Not all documents are included because that would turn into a book consisting of hundreds of pages! 

After publishing them on Shutterfly I give them as gifts at Christmas. That is one way the family stories and research might be preserved for future generations. If you are unfamiliar with Shutterfly I have a tutorial on using it on my Olive Tree Genealogy YouTube Channel.

Creating a Memory Book in Shutterfly (Tutorial 1)

Creating a Memory Book in Shutterfly (Tutorial 2)

Creating a Memory Book in Shutterfly (Tutorial 3)

From Van Valkenburg to Vollick
V.1 The Loyalist Isaac Van Valkenburg aka Vollick
and his Vollick & Follick Children

Another solution I use is to create books for sale to other descendants. Since I tend to research all siblings in a family I can often provide details, facts and documents on a large number of family members for each generation. I use Amazon KDP for those books which then are made available on Amazon. 

See my list of books I have published here.  Money I make from these sales helps offset my expenses in subscribing to online companies for their databases.

I also donate a copy of any books I create to local archives or libraries where the family settled.  This helps ensure that even more descendants will have access to my research in the future.

How have you overcome the problem of your family not wanting your genealogy records?

Creating a Memory Book in Shutterfly: Tutorial 3

Video 3 of Creating a Memory Photo Book on Shutterfly is now online on Olive Tree Genealogy YouTube Channel

In this video I show you how to work with text boxes and embellishments, and how to rearrange book pages. 

Creating an Ancestor Memory Book on Shutterfly - Video 2

Don't miss my second video tutorial on using Shutterfly to create a Memory Book of your ancestors. This is a fun easy project to create. Be sure to visit the Olive Tree Genealogy YouTube Channel for more video tutorials

Creating a Memory Book - Video Tutorials

Yesterday I uploaded two video tutorials to Olive Tree Genealogy Channel on YouTube. The tutorials walk you step by step through creating a beautiful Photo Memory Book for your family tree.

There are more video tutorials to come in this series so be sure to keep an eye on the YouTube Channel and on this blog for announcements.

Here are the first two in the series. I hope they are helpful!

Creating a Memory Book in Shutterfly (Tutorial 1)

Creating a Memory Book in Shutterfly (Tutorial 2)

The Legacy of Our Genealogy

Everyone dies. It's a sad fact of life, and one we all face. For genealogists this natural order of things is compounded by the fact that we have invested so much time into researching our family tree. What will happen to our years of work once we're gone?

As we've discussed previously on Olive Tree Genealogy blog, genealogy is often a way of life, an addictive all-consuming hobby or avocation. If you're like me you have boxes and binders and filing cabinets chock full of papers and documents you've collected on your ancestors.

But do you have a plan for your papers after your passing? You not only need a person or repository for your work, you need to have it in some semblance of organization in order to pass it on.

Let's face it, do we really think anyone else wants our piles of unsorted papers? I can't think of anyone in my family who would offer a spot in their homes for my records. I have two 3-foot long filing cabinets, 3 drawers high - the kind that pull out so the files are sideways not facing front. I also have 2 smaller front-facing filing cabinets. I also have several large plastic tubs. They are all full of my genealogy research. I'm only kidding myself to think that anyone would take them and give up room in their house to store them.

And let's not forget my Genealogy program with data entered that is not printed off. I'm not even sure my husband knows how to access all those digital family files.

As avid genealogists we each need to put together a solid plan for our work. The plan should cover three areas:

1. Where will our work go - an individual family member? An institution?

2. In what format will our work be organized so that it can be passed on

3. How have you ensured that your executors or loved ones know about your plan

Many genealogists seem to think that an institution such as a local library or an Archives or Museum or the Family History Centre in Salt Lake City will jump at the opportunity to have the research. But have you verified that this is correct? Have you found out what format they want it in, IF they want it at all?

Do you know of an enthustiastic family member who is hoping you'll leave all your research to him or her? I don't!

My plan is to continue creating small family booklets which I've talked about previously on Olive Tree Genealogy Blog under the topic Genealogy Memory Books and also larger in-depth books.

In each of those I will place scans of documents I've found. It isn't realistic to think I can include scans of every single document for every individual - the census records alone would create a book so mammoth it would not be feasible to print it.

So I will note my sources carefully and accurately so that others reading my work will be able to duplicate (i.e., find) what I have found. I'll only be able to include scans of the more obscure documents, and of those which are original one-of-a-kind documents or photographs in my possession. I hope to create these booklets and donate them to local libraries during my lifetime. I plan on one booklet or book per family surname.

For family lines where I've not yet done in-depth research I will simply put together a very small booklet with a pedigree chart, family group sheets or genealogy report printed automatically from my genealogy program, and copies of documents. These I won't donate during my lifetime but will add to them as I can.

Instructions for disposal of my genealogy research notes and booklets have been added to the set of instructions I have for the executors of my will. Both my husband and my son know where this is kept. It's a large manilla envelope with several pages of important items - my bank accounts, credit cards, burial wishes, facts for my obituary, my wishes for disposal of family treasures, life insurance policies, etc. Everything to make my executors' lives easier.

I rest easy knowing I have a plan that I like. But I haven't yet begun organizing the genealogy data and that leaves me feeling uneasy. Genealogy is important to me. The truth and the story of my ancestors is something I am compelled to pass on to others.

Facing our own mortality isn't easy but it's inescapable and so I've vowed that 2011 will be the year I organize my over 40 years of research. Do you have a plan and a goal for ensuring that your genealogy research survives? What a wonderful legacy we can each leave if we take some time to make it happen.

Creating A Family Tree Booklet

A few days ago I talked about my surprise that my nephew did not know about my mother and father's (his grandparents) double wedding ceremony in 1936. That story is at The Things Family Don't Know 

His surprise at finding this out made me realize I know a lot of things that other family members don't. And I have a lot of items - newspaper clippings, photos and so on, that other family members have probably never seen.

It seemed to me I needed to start creating family booklets which contained all this information. That's not as easy or quick as it might seem, because I have become the unofficial keeper of the family papers and photographs. It started when I was about 16 and my grandmother gave me her "stuff". Every time someone in the family passed away, their "stuff" ended up with me. I'm not complaining, but it's a lot of "stuff" to sort and organize before it is ready for a booklet.

Several readers have asked me how to create such a booklet - what do you include, how big do you make it, etc. I've completed one on my McGinnis family which I'll be giving to my brother and nephew today. Here's how I tackled it:

1. Decide what your focus is for your booklet. I wanted to provide photographs and newspaper clippings plus a few documents for my generation (my siblings and I), my parents, my McGinnis grandparents, my great-grandparents and my great-great grandparents. You could focus simply on your generation and your parents, the choices are endless.

2. What size will your booklet be? I made mine on 8.5x11 inch paper, portrait orientation.

3. How many pages will you include? I didn't decide on a specific number other than less than 25 pages. I just kept adding photos until I decided I was done. Actually in my case, my LaserJet Printer ran out of black ink and that ended my project.

4. Think about your audience. What format will you use for your booklet for that audience? Since my booklet won't be in the hands of any avid genealogists, I wanted it to be easy to read, not too many dry facts, and appealing enough to be looked at more than once.

I decided to do brief write-ups on the first 3 generations down to my parents, each write-up giving a few basic facts interspersed with images. I used a program called PictureIt! to create these pages.

First Generation Story

So I talked a bit about my Irish McGinnis family coming from Ireland to Ontario during the Famine. I gave some details from various census and land records (but not too many! I kept in mind that no one in my family but me is a fanatical genealogist)

When I got to my parents' section, I started adding photographs, the more the better.

The Double Wedding

I tried to focus just on our direct male ancestor and not get side-tracked by siblings or spousal lines. Adding photos and documents for siblings and spouses would have meant creating a huge book, not a booklet. For myself and my siblings I didn't provide any text, just photos.

My next section was a scrapbook type section, created in Picassa using the Collages feature.

Scrapbook Section: Mother's Early Years

I created several pages of scrapbook photos complete with captions. These pages were focused on my mom and dad and my siblings and myself.

Some things I mulled over were whether or not to include death certificates. I decided against it because I felt that my family members would not want to read such an item (again - they are not die-hard genealogists!) These are all personal decisions and keeping in mind who will be receiving your booklet helps you make a decision appropriate for that audience.

One item I added was a family tree chart of head shots of our ancestors. It doesn't follow our McGinnis line exclusively because I only have some ancestors' photographs. So these were the ones I put in my chart.

Family Tree Chart

Last, I created a cover page on card stock, laminated front and back and then bound the entire booklet together with a coil spine.

Booklet Cover

Here is an example of the finished product (two pages from the completed booklet) which will be given to my brother and nephew today.

Final Product - Coil Bound Booklet

Sharing Memories: A Genealogy Journey (Week 1)

A few months ago I talked about Memory Books and Genealogy Journal writing

It's important as genealogists that we not forget about writing our own story. Yes, we all want to find information on our ancestors and once we find it, most of us will put it in booklet form to share with other family members. But what about our own memories? We may think writing about ourselves is boring or egotistical but stop and think how excited you would be if you found a journal or memoirs that your great great grandmother kept!

I began my Life Story last year. As I mentioned in my previous posts, I started with my first memory and tried to keep my journal chronological. It was a matter of writing down my memories of each year of my life - or so I thought! That soon proved to be very difficult. I got confused - had I written about my mother falling on the ice her first time skating? Or my father dressing up as Santa then giving out the wrong presents? I simply could not recall what I had already written and what was a memory that had just surfaced.

So after months of mulling this over I've decided on a new method of writing my own life story. This new method will keep me on track, and will help get rid of confusion - did I or didn't I already talk about an event.

I will write about my memories of the past - memories of my family (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings), memories of special events, stories told by my parents or grandparents, my time at school, as a child, a teenager, an adult, newly married - in short it will be my life story but broken into events (topics) rather than chronological.

My hope is that my readers will follow along with me on this genealogy journey. I invite you to start your own journal and write along with me day by day, week by week and month by month. I will share some of my stories as I go along, and it would be wonderful if readers shared theirs too by using the comment feature on this blog, or by posting to your own blog.

I'll be writing my journal using various topics as a guideline, and I'll keep my journal for that week following the topic guidelines. A weekly topic will keep us writing daily in order to complete the topic by the end of the week!

A few suggestions are

* Buy a good book to keep your Life Memories in. I write in leather bound journals from Iona Handcrafted books, simply because I like how they feel and look important! They look like something that won't be tossed in the trash 50 years from now. That's important because I"m writing my memories for my descendants - children, grandchildren, great grandchildren not yet born. So I don't want to write in something that could easily be discarded in the future simply because it doesn't look worth saving

* Combine facts (where you went to school, names of teachers, where you lived) as well as emotions - happy and sad. Remember these are your memories so it's up to you to decide what you want to share. But don't overlook the sad moments too.

* Stay focused on the topic but jot down other memories that pop into your head as you are writing. You will be amazed at what memories surface as you are putting your thoughts down on paper. You can add those jot notes later when we get to a topic that fits.

* Don't type your memories - writing them by hand gives your descendants a sense of YOU - your style, your emotions. Handwriting is a reflection of our personality.

* choose a daily time period to write. If you can get in the habit of writing at the same time each day, you will find your journal writing flows more easily. Write early morning with your cup of tea or coffee. Write just as you are going bed or after supper when the children have gone to bed. Whatever is a good quiet time for you. I try to set aside 30 minutes each day. I don't always write for that 30 minutes, sometimes all I manage is 5 or 10! But that's okay.

I'm going to begin my Sharing Memories Journal this month with a topic suitable for the season, so drop back tomorrow to see what topic I've chosen to start my Genealogy Journal. Hopefully you will join me to begin recording and saving your own precious memories of your life to date.

To find all our Sharing Memories Topics, just click on the SHARING MEMORIES label in the right side bar of this blog or on the SHARING MEMORIES label of this post

Creating a Genealogy Family Memory Book, Part 2

This is one page from another of my Family Memory Books. It is the start of the section on my son's grandfather Jack and I wanted to show the different looks you can achieve.

Since I have Jack's old British passport I thought it would be a good idea to scan and place it in this Memory Book for my son and his children. I also included on this page a photo of Jack as a choir boy, the death certificate of his father, and a treasured photo of Jack in the streets of London England in WW11.

I use a very old program called Microsoft Picture It! Publishing 2001. There may well be much better and fancier ones available. But mine suits my purposes and allows me to create fancy or coloured backgrounds, fancy borders, edge effects, fade out effects and much more. Best of all, you can play around with the photos and documents right in the program. So you can change your layout and text and see exactly how it will look before you print. You can also save it as a webpage or email it to someone else.

This second image shows the same page but with a few changes. Here I created a fancy border around the photo of Jack as a choir boy. I also created a soft blurred edge effect around the top left photo of Jack in London England during WW11. Lastly I created a sepia background on which to place the photos. The choices are endless!

My first few Memory Books were plain and simple. I just wanted to place the images in a manner that was pleasing to me but I wanted to do them quickly. The more pages I created, the more I liked what was happening! I began to slow down and experiment.

Another thing I really like about Picture It! is that you can create 50 pages in the project, and you can place your images in the tray while you arrange and rearrange to your heart's content. It's rather like rearranging the living room but you don't have your husband complaining about moving the piano to seven different spots until you find the right place!

Creating a Genealogy Family Memory Book

Last winter I began scanning my old family photos and slides. As unofficial keeper of the family documents and photographs, I am entrusted with such treasures whenever someone dies. After years of accumulation of these items,including an old photo album from my grandmother's brother's family, I decided I simply had to organize and preserve them.

Scanning was my first step and I joined Scanfest, a monthly session hosted by Miriam of AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors. We get together on Windows Live Messenger where we scan and chat, and share tips on working out problems with old documents and photos. It's a great way to help motivate me to scan for a few hours while having fun!

Once I had all one family treasures scanned, I began scanning various documents I'd gathered in my genealogical research on that family. Scanning complete, I began editing the scans - cropping, resizing, correcting darkness and light problems and so on.

As soon as I had everything complete for one family I decided to create what I call a Family Memory Book. I eventually want to do one for each family line I have photos and documents for, but for now I worked on my English side - my mother and her parents going back as far as I have photographs. I have a page for each family member for whom I have a photo. Some individuals have many pages as I have a lot of photos and documents for them. Some have only 1 page, others share a page with other family members. It isn't a family tree so does not have to be in any particular order. As long as I labelled each photo, everyone can be identified by comparing names to a chart of the family tree which is included as one of the first pages of the book.

The photo at left is an example of one page from this 40 page booklet on my mother's English lines. This page holds a photo of my mother and her sister at very young ages, my mother's original birth certificate and a group photo of her at a young age with her parents and older sister. The group photo is actually a photocopy of an original and had to be seriously edited after scanning as photocopies are never a good solution. Sadly it was all I had to work with as no one knows who had the original or where it is now. (As an interesting aside, the young boy standing in the group photo was the son of family friends. The family lost touch but he became my mother's second husband some 65 years after this photo was taken.)

In this Family Memory Book I have scanned and placed photos, birth records, death records, newspaper obituaries, postcards of the ship my grandparents sailed on from England to canada in 1914, copies of ships passenger lists and any other documents I found when researching the lineage.

Because I have many family heirlooms passed on to me by my English grandmother, I also took pictures of them and included those in the Memory Book. This page is my Grandfather Charles in the Kent Buffs, and his gold pocket watch and initialed signet ring which my Grandmother gave me.

Each photo in the book has a caption or explanation with it. The progam I am using allows me to stack the photos as if I were creating a scrapbook. I can overlap. I can resize the photos right on the page so that I can see how the page will look. I can create borders. The choices are endless!

When this Family Memory Book is complete I will print them off on top quality laser paper, create a front and back cover which I will laminate, then I'll give one to each of my siblings and other family members. What better way to share the wonderful photos I own plus preserve copies in case anything happens to the originals.