Genealogy Library

Using holidays for genealogy

Use your holiday for family history can be very rewarding. Preparing in advance for your trip can save you time and gas money. The following are things you can do before your trip.

Call ahead and check the library, courthouses, cemeteries, hours of operation, etc. and places. Remember lunchtime especially in small towns where there may be only one worker. I remember a friend who drove two hours to find the cemetery was private land and was located in a locked fence. She had to call in advance to make arrangements to visit the cemetery of his ancestors.

Bring copies, the originals of your records (pedigrees, group sheets of the family, pictures, titles). Take a blank family group sheets and pedigree with you on trips completed by the parents that you visit.

Have good maps of the region you visit. Maybe a map is available of what the region looked like during the time of your ancestors. What are the county lines may have changed over the years?

Jump to a plan. It's a good idea to focus on one family, but also open-minded. Most families lived in the same areas and traveled together. But at the same time trying to research names can be too overwhelming.

If you can get information from your local library or a genealogy center of family history, do not spend your holiday time watching that particular information. Use your time wisely on things that you can go where you are. Check out the weather conditions and dress accordingly. The area is flat or hilly? Wear shoes that are comfortable, can they get dirty, if the cemetery is muddy? What type of transport is there and you have access to the place where you go?

The holidays are family time. How to involve children can be fun and a good learning moment. Young children can seek help by reading the tombstones names. We should also use this time to talk about our ancestors and how to show respect to the cemetery. Ask children to find pictures or inscriptions. Put flowers on the graves may also be a special moment. To know in advance how Headstone rubbings and teach your children. Make a timeline with your child at one end of the line and the ancestor you are looking at the other end. What happened in the world between the two periods?

On the way, let the kids look for signs indicating the counties, names of shops, lakes, parks, or other landmarks. If one of them in existence at the time of your ancestor? Someone once told me during the holidays mosquitoes were horrible. This made him wonder if they were there when his ancestors lived there. What did they go?

Let children take pictures, label them and write stories. Do not forget to put dates, names and locations. Years down the line, who knows, maybe 100 years from there, your descendants may want to spend your newspaper!

Taking advantage of available resources when you travel is useful if you plan wisely. Genealogy holidays can be rewarding if one is ready.