The Year Ahead – March 31

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 31 – Back up your family tree data, and print updated research logs and charts.

Happy Easter, print out those charts so that you can share them around the dinner table. Always have a backup plan for your family tree data. My plan consists of a nightly cloud service backup, that backups not only my genealogy data, but all my data found on my computer. Then once a month, I back up my folders to an external drive. 

Develop a plan and in my case, I pick the first Monday of each month to do my manual backup and it’s a recurring event on my calendar and thus I get a reminder on my phone.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 30

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 30 – Did you inherit Grandma’s China or wedding ring? Catalog your family heirlooms with a free trial of Artifcts www.artifcts.com

Yes, this is the way they spell it. You will need to create your free account. Please don’t create the account from your Facebook, Google or Apple account, it’s best to sign up with email and then create an unique password. This way if somehow your Facebook, Google or Apple account get’s hacked, you won’t be locked out of your other accounts that use it to create the account.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 29

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 29 – Easter is this weekend! Get hopping to learn more about your favorite family traditions.

If you still have older family members around and will be seeing them this Easter, take the time to ask them what Easter was like as a child. In my family, my mother would hide all the easter baskets for her nine children, no easy task. She made the mistake of putting one in the oven, and since it was a gas oven with a running pilot light, the small heat melted all the chocolate. 

I also hid my children’s easter baskets, making sure I made a good mental note where they were hidden. My youngest daughter was the worst searcher. I once place it under her bed and she never found it. After tears, I had to take her to room and tell her to look under her bed.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 28

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 28 – Run searches at your favorite genealogy websites – even if you’ve already done so this year. New records may have been added or indexed.

I am amazed how much more information is available on-line today then just 10 years ago. I remember when sharing a story, I found about an ancestor to my brother, many years ago, he commented that it seemed I was finding more information in my genealogy. That is when I let him know that so much more is available on-line these days.

Plus, by re-running these searches, you will also be revisiting your previous research findings and notes. Maybe what you know today will make something in your previous research jump out and open a door for new research.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 27

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 27 – Page through cookbooks you’ve inherited and ask your relatives to do the same. You might discover handwritten recipes and notes.

When I inherited my mother cookbook and index card box, it was nice to see her handwriting on some of those cards. Did you ever think about creating a recipe book from these cards. Shutterfly, is an easy, inexpensive way of getting this accomplished. Take pictures of the recipe cards and upload them to Shutterfly and create a cookbook. The relatives you asked, could do the same.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy! 

The Year Ahead – March 26

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 26 – Chose your favorite female ancestor and jot down some stores about her.

I have been participating in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks by Amy Johnson Crow. This gives people prompts to write about their ancestors. A person could easily take these prompts to help them write stories about their female ancestors. You might not consider yourself a writer, but writing down a story might help sift out some overlook clues in your genealogy research.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 25

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 25 – use Chronicling America < https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ > to search over 20 million historical newspapers from around the United States.

If you don’t find your family, you might find interesting stories. I found an interesting story about Johanna Hilts from 1914, who lived in Olympia, Washington. She talked backed to her boss about his comments that girls can eat on 10 cents a meal, when it wasn’t his stomach. She stated that his meal at noon that day coast $2.40 for himself and that was more than he paid his laundry girl all week. For saying this, she was fired. 

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 24

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 24 – Try out the photo-editing, colorizations and animation tools at MyHeritage, which you can use for free on a limited number of photos. A subscription offers unlimited uses.

I have seen the animation results that MyHeritage has when they first introduced this feature, everyone was showing them on Facebook. It really brought the people to life.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 23

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 23 – Seek historical photos and postcards from your ancestors’ time. Check auction sites such as eBay www.ebay.com and photo-reunion sites such as DeadFred www.deadfred.com and Ancient Faces https://www.ancientfaces.com

I even have found photos and postcards at Antique shops. Maybe you can upload the photo to DeadFred and reunite the photo to their family? We could all use some good Karma for ourselves.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

 

The Year Ahead – March 22

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 22 – Home sources can be fonts of information, especially about female ancestors. Look in your attic (or contact relatives) for diaries, wedding-guest registers, baby books, family Bibles, letters and more.

If you have been doing genealogy for some time, you might think you have already done this step. However, perhaps you made contact with a new genealogy relative. Ask them if they have any resources, you can look at. Review your files, perhaps you know more about the family and you will find new information. 

How about your DNA matches? Do any of them have a tree and might have possible clues, photos, or letters attached to their tree.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

 

The Year Ahead – March 21

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 21 – Grab your research binder and visit the library to find the resources you saw yesterday.

Don’t put off tomorrow, what you can do today. However, if you already have plans today that can’t be changed, then schedule a day in the next week to visit the library, while everything is still fresh in your mind.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 20

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 20 – Get familiar with your local library’s online finding aid or catalog.

This is always a good idea before going to any library. Don’t waste your precious time while at the library learning what their holdings are.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 19

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 19 – The windows can wait – spring clean your genealogy research instead. Sort your papers, file emails, and tidy your computer desktop. 

I love having a clean work space for my genealogy. I quickly collect items, reference books, pens, scraps of papers, post-it-notes, and more that clutter my work space. I like to make sure my notes still make sense. What about those how to do notes? Do you know how to do it without referencing the note? Then toss it.  Can your notes be combined onto one piece of paper, instead of multiple notes? Do you have a small container that your notes are in, so you can find them easier? My desk has a open shelf below the lower drawer on my desk. I like to put all my user manuals for my genealogy software there. I also put any book that I might be reading that pertains to genealogy in this spot too. This quickly cleared a lot of space on my desktop. 

Check out the helpful hints in the following article: "Organize your Genealogy Research Space like the Pros".

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 18

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 18 – Explore www.womenshistorymonth.gov, a collaboration between the Library of Congress and related organizations.

There is so much to explore, so don’t forget to add it to your bookmarks so that you can come back and explore another day too.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

 

The Year Ahead – March 17

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 17 – Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by visiting RootsIreland www.rootsIreland.ie and the National Archives website < https://genealogy.nationalarchives.ie/>.

Today, everyone is Irish, even if you aren’t. The first link, requires a subscription, they offer a yearly, 6-months, 1 month and even 1 day. The yearly one translates into 54 cents a day versus the day subscription of $18.00. Don’t forget if you select “Automatic Renewal” your subscription will be renewed automatically. However, if you purchase the 1-day subscription and you upgrade to the 1-, 6- or 12-month plan within 30 days, they will deduct the $18 from the subscription price. So, it’s almost like a free trial.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 16

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 16 – Tap into Family Tree’s collection of articles on finding female relatives www.familytreemagazine.com/female-ancestors.

Take a few minutes right now and see what they have. Save any interesting articles for follow-up if you don’t have time to fully review the article right now.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 15

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 15 – Beware the Ides of March! The Romans honored it by settling debts – do the same by checking the expiration dates for your paid genealogy subscriptions.

The biggest complaint I hear in Facebook groups is when their subscriptions renew when they wanted to take a break. Did you know in Ancestry, when you cancel a subscription, it is still valid through the last day of the subscription? So don’t wait until the last day. Also, I found I would get emails with offers for savings if I did let my subscription end. Plus, with Ancestry, they usually have a wonderful Black Friday sale for 50% off. So, think about planning on having your current subscription end around that time. You won’t lose your tree if you cancel your subscription, you only lose access to documents that are attached that are found behind their paywall. However, Ancestry now has many different levels of subscriptions, check out the following article titled “Ancestry.com Subscriptions Explained”.

Personally, I never let any of my subscriptions automatically renew. 

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 14

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 14 – Pick an ancestral state and explore its state archives or library website. Keep an eye out for county histories, research tips, and record collections and indexes.

My current state is also my ancestral state and I have been fortunate enough to visit the Wisconsin Historical Library. There are so many holdings and I was able to view those holdings before I took a road trip to the library. I read up on what was allowed in the library, drinks or food. I made sure I had enough material that I wanted to check out before my visit, so that my trip was one that was worthwhile to take.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 13

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 13 – Check out Conference Keeper www.conferencekeeper.org for spring and summer genealogy conferences.

While you are at it, check out free genealogy on-line webinars, and save the date on your calendar. Make an effort to check out one each month. Even YouTube has many interesting videos that will help you with whatever genealogy skill you want to learn. Some brick walls are the result of us not having the knowledge base to know where to turn next. It’s never to late to learn a new skill.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 12

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 12 – Wish you could visit your ancestral homeland or take a genealogy cruise. Daydream by visiting your target country’s tourism website or www.genealogycruises.com.

I have been fortunate to visit my ancestral homeland, Ireland back in 2003. I had been communicating with a woman who married into my family surname. She showed me where she believed my ancestor lived. Since then, her husband took the Y-DNA test and matched to my father.

Start planning your trip now! If you don't plan on it, it won't just happen. Does traveling oversees seems daunting? Then plan a local trip to an area that your ancestor’s lived, or perhaps a cemetery, where many of your relatives may be found.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 11

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 11 – Enhance a female ancestor’s timeline with social history events related to women’s rights, such as the adoption of the 19th Amendment (1920).

Check out local newspapers for where your female ancestors lived and see what events related to women’s rights were happening. Perhaps you will find your ancestor listed in the paper.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

 

The Year Ahead – March 10

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 10 –Don't let losing an hour to Daylight Saving Time set you back. Catch up on your genealogy (paper or electronic) filing today.

I know I have stacks of paper that I need to review and organize. When I was working, I wasn't always able to do genealogy research, sometimes, I would find out that Ancestry.com was having a free weekend, and I would do tons of gathering of sources and print out lots of papers that I meant to follow-up with later. Well, later didn't always come and now decades later, I still have paperwork that needs to be sorted and review. 

This task can seem boring compared to finding new information, however, since permissions to database sets change over the years, I might have something in that stack that I can't find online today. Thus, I will try to set aside one or two hours a week to catch up on this paper.

I also have electronic junk folders in my genealogy folder with lots of finds that I need to follow up on too. So much work and so little time.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 9

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 9 – Look up your ancestral addresses in city directories, which you can find at Ancestry.com, MyHeritage, and library websites.

Did you know that some cities renumbered all the house numbers in their town? My hometown did this in the early 1900's and thus addresses in the 1900 US Census do not match the address in the 1910 US Census, even though the person didn't move. Thus, make sure to investigate how and when your town developed the house numbering system.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 8

 In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 8 – What'll happen to your research when you're gone? Arrange to leave it to a relative or a historical society.

If you are leaving it to a family relative, place place a note stating this in a place that people will find it. If you want to leave it with a historical society or similiar archive, please contact them ahead of time and verify that they will take your collection. Again, leave a note stating this, so that your relatives who are handling your estate will know what to do with it.

When I use to volunteer at my local genealogical library, I saw many relatives who donated their families history to our library. These treasures sat in boxes, to not see the light of day again. We also obtained donations after they tried the local Family History Library who didn't want these unorganized collections.

Thus, I have decided, I want to start creating family history books. My books will be descendant books starting with the immigrant ancestor and trying to find all their descendants. I have started working on my first such book, and I am in the research stage. After I have tried my best to find all the descendants, I am going to turn to DNA, AncestryDNA has Thrulines and I will see who they have identified as descendants of this couple. I will see if I have already found them while researching. I am going to identify they in my book as a DNA match to myself or one of my siblings. If they aren't in my tree, I will have to research them to verify that ThruLines has placed them in the proper place.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 7

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 7 – Use the photo-identification tips from page of this issue to investigate a mystery photo of a woman in your family.

One tip states that you should not assume that everyone pictured in your family photo collection is a relative. Our ancestors swapped photos with friends just like we do today. I remember looking at a scrapbook my aunt had, and she had lots of photos of friends. This is when I realized that all the photos I came across in my parents collections, were not necessarily relatives.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

 

The Year Ahead – March 6

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 6– Ditch the electronic devices to take a walk with a relative, friend or pet (or just by yourself)! 

We all need to take a break from the electronic world. Sometimes, I like to sit in my living room, read a book or magazine with no TV. Even if you don't like to leave your home without your phone, you can leave your phone in your pocket, it doesn't always have to be in your hand. 

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 5

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 5 – Record the results of yesterday's searches in your research log/genealogy software. Make sure women are listed by their maiden names. 

I have a good genealogy friend who likes to list women by their married name. This seems to work for her. So if you are one of those who like to list women by their married name, make sure to have their maiden name in there too. Especially, if the woman's married name and maiden name are the same. even though this may sound rare, it can happen, especially with common surnames.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 4

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 4 – List all your female ancestors' maiden names (or as many as you can), then search for them in online collections.

Many of my branches end with my female ancestors because I don't have maiden names. Also, be careful if you have her maiden name but can't seem to find her parents, make sure you really have her maiden name and not a previous married name. When widows remarry, they often use their married name on their later marriage records. Sometimes, their children don't even realized that the name they have for their mother was a previous married name.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 3

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 3 – Print ancestor charts and family group sheets for the women in your family tree. Make plans for finding missing facts.

I find it helpful to revisit those relatives that seem elusive. As more resources become available online, or as more relatives are added to your tree, you might find records that help with missing facts.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

 

The Year Ahead – March 2

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 2 – Download or print the Fearless Females Blogging Prompts <www.theaccidentalgenealogist.com/2023/03/02/fearless-females-blogging-prompts-series-back-for-2023> to start writing about a favorite female ancestor.

If you are aren't comfortable blogging, don't let this prevent you from writing about various females in your family. Start a three ring binder and add these stories into the binder. Or if your genealogy software has a personal note field, add the story into your program.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – March 1

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

March 1 – During Women's History Month, visit <www.nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org> for free resources.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!