2011 In Review

Like so many people I become contemplative when a new year begins and this time I found myself thinking more about the genealogy breakthroughs than any other aspect of my life. This year I learned a great deal not only about my family’s history, but also about genealogy research and world history.  As you can see, I have had a busy year!

At the beginning of the year I began researching my fiancé's family history.

In February I went to Barnes Cemetery in Licking County, Ohio and took pictures of some graves for FindAGrave and RAOGK (which sadly ceased its existence this year).

In April I stumbled upon the Morse Society and they unearthed information on my original ancestor, John DeMorse, that came to America from Ireland.

In June I began seriously considering starting my own business and came up with the name, Jenealogy.

I took many Legacy Family Tree Webinars including:
- Preserving Family Photographs: 1839 to the Present with Maureen Taylor
- Further Your Research and Unify Your Family Reunion with Beautiful Genealogy Charts
- Google Images and Beyond with Maureen Taylor
- Researching Your Connecticut Ancestors  by Marian Pierre-Louis
- Organizing for Success by Karen Clifford
- Newspapers for Genealogists: Using GenealogyBank.com to document every day of your ancestors' lives by Thomas Jay Kemp
- Facebook for Genealogists by Thomas MacEntee
- The Three Cs of Irish Research: Civil Registration, Church Records, and Census with Judith Eccles Wight
- Start Writing Your Life Stories: Tips From Sunny Morton, Author of My Life & Times
- Cracking the Case of Nathan Brown's Parents by Marian Pierre-Louis
- It Is Well With My Soul: Finding Ancestors Amid the Rubble of Disaster and Misfortune by Thomas MacEntee
 
I attended the Ohio Genealogical Society's annual conference and their special one-day Fall Seminar featuring Dick Eastman.

In July I joined Twitter and began networking with others with similar interests.

In September I went to Cedar Hill Cemetery in Licking County, Ohio and took pictures of some graves for FindAGrave and RAOGK.

In September I was contacted by a cousin and finally saw pictures of my great grandparents and learned more about my paternal side of the family.

I joined a Rootsmagic User Group and met others who use the software.

During my visit to northern Indiana I finally got a copy of my maternal great grandfather’s application for Naturalization. The highlight was discovering the name of the town of his birth in Belarus.

In October I finally saw a picture of my maternal great grandmother who had gone to Jerusalem.

I learned digital scrapbooking techniques through a course on JessicaSprague's website.

I began taking business classes through the Small Business Development Center.

In the beginning of November I started taking an Advanced Jewish Genealogy Course through JewishGen.

For Christmas I gave family trees to many relatives and enjoyed sharing some of the research I've done over the past year.


After compiling this list.. I'm amazed at all I managed to do on a limited budget and free time.  Imagine if I did not work full time and was able to focus even more on my genealogical pursuits!