We’re moving on up!

The G Files now has its own permanent web address! You can now find The G files at http://www.thegfiles.net Please change any links you may have. See ya soon!

Little White Lies

What is a family historian? I’m sure that most would agree that at the very core, our role is to research and document history, whether for our family or others. But what do you do if you come across information on someone that may be less than commendable? I would hope that you would respond by saying that your role is not to revise history, only to document it, but I’ve come across some that either alter the information to make a bad situation look better, or completely bury it and pretend it didn’t happen.

I have a friend whose great great grandmother came to America from England with her illegitimate son. Shortly after arriving, she married a fine upstanding man. In those times I’m sure having a child out of wedlock was quite scandalous, but you’d think that after 150 years had passed since the incident, the family would have recovered from the shock. But you’d be wrong. My friend relates to me that there are some in her family, that to this day insist on rewriting the history to indicate that this child was born after the marriage so that they don’t have to deal with the “embarrassment” of having an illegitimate child in their family–regardless of the fact that all available documentation indicates otherwise.

As family historians, we do not, have the prerogative of rewriting history–it is what it is. What our ancestors did may be stupid, embarrassing, or even shameful, but who are we to place judgment on them? We do them, ourselves, and our posterity a great disservice when we alter or ignore history to soothe our ego.

I have a direct ancestor who lived in the 1800’s and was a pillar in the community. Even today, people in the Southwest revere his name and hold him in great esteem. There have been several books written about him over the years, and it has been a source of some pride to have been related to him. However, in researching him and his life, I have come across a bit of information that will shake his reputation greatly. In a day or two I will report what I found, and it is nothing less that earthshaking.

What he did has pierced me to the soul, and I am profoundly disappointed. But I must say that my greatest disappointment lies with the family historians of the past, the authors of the books and articles, and with some members of my extended family. For nowhere in all the books, articles, and verbal stories has anyone mentioned his heinous deed, yet this information is so easily accessible that I can come to no other conclusion that these people are nothing less than revisionists who have no place to call themselves family historians. Now I don’t think that this deed need be the only thing mentioned about him, because he clearly did a great amount of good in his life, but to make no mention of it at all is inexcusable.

Regardless, of what our ancestors did or didn’t do, the victims of their actions or crimes are relatively small. But the greatest sin lies with the family historian who revises or buries history, because their lies have numberless victims that only increase and ripple throughout the years. We have no right to change, alter or bury history, or even to emphasize one part over another; we are only to document our ancestors–warts and all. So whether you are descended from an illegitimate child, or a long line of slave owners, or a murderer, if you want to call yourself a family historian, you must document and report all the information. To do otherwise is a crime against humanity.

Utah Death Certificates now online

While visiting David Lambert’s genealogy Blog I saw an entry where he mentioned that Utah has now put their digital images of death certificates online from 1905 to 1954. I was excited to see this, as it is a great help to finding information, and clarifying current records. Case in point, within five minutes of being online, I discovered that the date of death that I had for John C. Ostler, Michelle’s great great grandfather, was incorrect. I had his death as being in September, and the death certificate shows August. Stop by and visit the new site at: http://historyresearch.utah.gov/indexes/index.html

Wow! That was fast.

I’ve only had this blog online for one day, and already someone has mentioned it in their blog. Jeff over at http://pytlewski.wordpress.com/ visited this site and thought enough about it to mention it in his blog. You might stop by and visit his site as there is some good info over there. Thanks Jeff.

Tell the world about it…

As a side hobby, I create websites for family and friends. it’s nothing special, but many people find the idea of creating a website somewhat daunting. if they only knew how easy it is. anyway, a couple of years ago, I was asked to email out the itinerary for an upcoming family reunion, and I said, hey, let’s create a webpage so people can download the itinerary view some photos and get more information. Having a website not only lends legitimacy and takes your reunion from just a family get-together to a real event, it gets the word out to people who may be looking to contact your or other family members for genealogical purposes. Here’s the one I created for the Sasser Family Reunion: www.gleed.net/sasser And here’s another I created for a friend of mine: www.americanwestlending.com/durfey

If you like the idea of creating a reunion website, but don’t have a site to host it, or much know-how, there are other options. You can get a free website from geocities.yahoo.com, and if you don’t want a full-blown site, you can at least advertise it for free at Rootsweb’s Reunion Calendar. For more information you can visit http://family-reunion.com which has tons of information for planning your family reunion.

Viva la Revolucion!

I recently spoke to a person who is beta testing the LDS Church’s updated genealogy site, and when I asked what he thought, his one-word response was “Awesome!”. Currently the Church’s regular site is found at www.familysearch.org, but from what I’ve heard, the new site will be nothing less than revolutionary. According to this article in the Deseret News, the Church is planning on opening the floodgates of their Granite Vaults, and creating the ultimate in genealogy websites. And here’s the best thing: It’ll all be free!

If you have followed genealogy news as of late, you have likely read about the falling out of sorts between Ancestry.com and the LDS Church, with the result of Ancestry.com removing free access to their site from Family History Centers (except for those databases which they collaborated with the Church on).

To my knowledge, the exact details of the situation have not been released, but I suspect it has something to do with the fact that Ancestry.com charges $35/month to access all the areas of their site, and when it is all said and done, the Church will not be charging anything for essentially the same information. This is great news for the countless family historians (like me) who cannot afford the high fees.

Now, here’s the really exciting part: you can be part of this genealogical revolution. The Church is letting average people like you and me help them index much of the information. If you direct your browser to www.familysearchindexing.org, you can download a little program that downloads census records, or death records, and you can be part of the work by indexing the information so people will be able to search it for free. The site has several tutorials, that I recommend you take prior to starting. It is tons of fun, and helps move the work forward as well. I’ve set a goal to index 1000 records a month, which breaks down to just 33 a day, but you can do as much or as little as you want.

So what are you waiting for? Get involved and help move the revolution forward.

What are “The G Files?”

I love a mystery and I love solving puzzles, especially when the puzzle directly affects me, and how I view myself and my place in the world. Throughout the course of time and history, people have left little clues and hints just waiting to be discovered. The answer to these riddles can often change the course of ones life, and the lives of countless others who have lived in years past and who have yet to come to this earth.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the “G” in The G Files stands for genealogy. And to me, it is one of the most fascinating subjects there is. Genealogy is all about stories. Stories filled with action, adventure, and excitement–also stories filled with boredom, sadness and misery. But the great thing about genealogy is that it is real, and it is all about you!

This blog is where I will let you share in some of my discoveries, my roadblocks and my frustrations, as I try to find out who are the people that made me, me. And I hope, along the way, you’ll feel inspired to do your own investigative work on your own family, and maybe even find out a little about yourself and who you are. Ready? Great! Let’s get started….