Week 5: Brothers and Sisters

If there were other children in your family, I'd like to hear about them. Who was the first-born child in your immediate family? What was their name, sex, and date of birth? Who came next: Keep going until you have listed all of your brothers and sisters in your immediate family. Was there anything unusual about the circumstances surrounding the birth of any of your brothers or sisters? I assume that your brothers and sisters were probably very central figures in your memories of growing up and even later in life. As we walk through your life memories, I will ask youmany more questions about your relationships with them. I just wanted to understand the birth order of yoru brothers and sisters. What about pictures of these people? Are their names written on the back to identify them? Where are these pictures located? In a box? Why not place them in an album?

Week 4: Grandparents

Which of your grandparents were still living while you were growing up? Did they live close to you or in another city? Did you have a speicial relationship with any one (or more) of your grandparents? What was his/her name? Why were they so special? What did that gradparent do (or not do) that made you feel especially close to them? Can you think of any stories about your grandparents you would like to record here? Anything interesting? Any funny or favorite stories that thy liked to tell that you would like to record? Were any of your grandparents especially wise in some area? What "sayings" did they use quite often? What "bits of wisdom" did they try to pass on to you or to others? Were they happy or crabby type personalities? Why do you think they were this way? How did their personalities affect your relationship with them?

If your grandparents were here now and could read your "Book" is there something you would like to say to them? Or is there something you would like to thank them for? ... Something you with they had done differently...? If there is anything else youwould like to tell me about your grandparents, please go ahead and type it in now...

Do you have pictures of your grandparents? Where are these pictures located? Are their names written on the back of the pictures to identify them? Ge these pictures out of those boxes and at least file them in some way. I really am a nag!

Organization and Filing - Hard Copy

In starting my genealogy research journey I have been determined to be organized. I know that the information and amount of paperwork can get overwhelming and I want to not have any problems. Ideally, I should be able to pull out any source material quickly and easily. This requires a really good filing system.

 So, here's what I've done. I bought a file box with a lid on it to keep all my genealogy files in. There are two hanging folders, one for Troy's tree and one for mine. Then, within each hanging folder is a folder for each family. I've sorted these alphabetically by husband's name (last name first), then wife next, including their years because there are some sons with the father's name. So for example, one label might say:

MILLS, Stephen (1799-1874)
   m. TRIGG, Sara (1799-1874)

Within each of these manilla folders I can file documents or printouts that relate to that family group (parents and children). I also included a Family Group Record within each file. I'm not sure that I really need that, since I have it all in my database. Plus, I keep adding new things and changing what I know so I would rather not reprint it every time.

Some of what I've read and listened to suggests giving each paper within the file a number and adding that to your database. So far, I figure that I can look through one manilla folder without much trouble and find what I want. Maybe as I keep going and collecting more documents I'll need to do that.

Here's one question I had: Since I am a child of my father and a wife of my husband, where do I put my own documents? Answer - file the document in the file where the person belongs at the time the document was made.

For example, my birth certificate is filed in my Father's folder because I was a member of his family when I was born. Anything that happened on or after 9 Aug 2003 (my wedding date) will be filed in my Husband's folder because now we are a new family. Easy!

How do you keep track of all your papers? Next time I'll show you what I do with my digital files.

Database Adventures

I started my genealogy journey, about a month ago, using the free PAF software from Family Search. I knew that there were not going to be any updates and that there were things I couldn't do with PAF. So, I made the switch to Roots Magic, currently in version 4. Let me tell you, I am impressed! Particularly with the source capabilities! I can attach a source to each and every event for each person it applies to...love it!

I've also gone through and cleaned everything up a bit. Since I started with databases from my Dad and Troy's aunt I had some overlaps. I combined duplicates and made sure everyone was linked to someone. The last thing I did - well, I'm still working on - is cleaning up place names. There were all kinds of duplicates that were just spelled differently or had USA or United States but were the same place. I'm still going through and combining duplicates and updating everything but I am really excited that it will all be nice and clean an organized!

Another thing I'm really liking about Roots Magic is all the reports I can print. In particular, the to-do list seems really promising. I've already added a bunch of to-do's, like looking up particular microfilms or researching various questions that come up, and can't wait to really dig into it.

Oh, and Roots Magic lets you link up to Family Search and match to people in the church's records. So you can see when they have been Baptized, Endowed, etc. One thing I've discovered is that just about everyone has had these ordinances completed more than once! Wow, how great that we can now merge duplicates and have a more accurate and widely available record?!

So, here's what my database is like today:

• People - 2079
• Families - 705
• Events - 8266
• Places - 585
• Sources - 18
• Citations - 434
• To-do tasks - 11
• Multimedia items - 32

As you can see most events (births, deaths, marriages, etc.) don't have citations. Remember, I got these from others' databases and they didn't have sources. So far I've only cited about 5% of the events with a source...I have a lot of work ahead of me. I'll keep you posted on how the database evolves.

Mathias Lund likes to dance!

I found some more information about Mathias Lund on Ancestry.com. Below is an excerpt from the Plain City History by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. Here's the link to the full text pdf: City History - Plain City - Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.

In the winter there were bob sleigh riding parties. The horses had sleigh bells on their harnesses which jingled as they ran.
Our dances in the winter time commenced in the afternoon and lasted well into the evenings. Dances were held in the old adobe school house on the south side of the square in the winter and in the bowery which was nearby in the summertime.
We danced on the hard dirt floor at first, many in their bare feet. Some had fancy boots on. My Brother, Mathias Lund, had purchased a pair to wear at a dance in the old bowery and being a "fussy" man, had gotten them plenty snug. When he tried to get them on he couldn't, so he removed his socks, greased his feet, and they slipped on without any effort. He went to the dance and danced the finger polka and the mazurka with the best of them. (Willard Lund)

I wish I knew what year this was. I assume it took place before Mathias was married in about 1874. Here's what I know about Mathias Christian Lund (narrative exported from my Roots Magic file):

Mathias Christian LUND was born in Sep 1849 in Denmark. He was confirmed a member of the LDS Church on 1 Jan 1858. He was baptized into the LDS Church on 5 Sep 1858. Mathias immigrated in 1869. He immigrated on 28 Jul 1869 to New York, New York, United States at left from Liverpool, England and Queenstown, Ireland. He received LDS initiatory on 11 May 1874 in the Endowment House. Mathias was endowed on 11 May 1874 in the Endowment House. He appeared in the census on 2 Jun 1880 in Plain City, Weber, Utah, United States.2 He was sealed to his parents on 29 Jun 1892 in the Logan Utah temple. On 7 Jun 1900 he was a Farmer in Plain City, Weber, Utah, United States. He appeared in the census on 7 Jun 1900 in Plain City, Weber, Utah, United States. Mathias appeared in the census on 20 Apr 1910 in Plain City, Weber, Utah, United States. He was naturalized in United States.

Week 3: Roots

Do you know if your family name was changed when your ancestors originally came to this country? Did they change it later on for some reason? What reason? What were the names of your first family members to settle in this country? Where did they settle? What was their business, trade, or profession? What brought your original family members to this country? What professions did they bring with them? What language did your ancestors speak? Where exactly did they come from? If there is anything else you would like to tell me about your ancestors, please go ahead and write it in now.

Are you aware of a family crest? Do you have a copy of it? Tell me about the origin of this crest. Where is it kept?

Week 2: Names

I would like you to write “My father’s full name was _____ and my mother’s full name was _____ (maiden name). Is there anything interesting or unusual about their (your) last name that you would like to tell me? (i.e. nationality, etc.) How about your parents first or middle names? Were you named after either of your parents? Were you named after a relative? Which relative? Were they alive when you were born? Were you named after a famous person? Is there anything else that is special or unusual about how your name was selected, who decided on it, etc? Have you been pleased with the name your parents gave you or do you wish they would have chosen some other name? Why?

If you would like to offer some advice to your children (or to other readers of your “Book of Memories” about how a child’s name can affect his/her self-image, please do so now …

Census 1900 - Mathias Lund Family - Plain City, Weber, Utah

Source: 1900 U.S. Census, Plain City, Weber, Utah, population schedule, Plain City Precinct, enumeration district (ED) 194, sheet 3A, family 54, Mathias Lund Family; digital images, Ancestry.com (downloaded 3 May 2011); T623, 1854 rolls.

I was looking for Victor Eugene Lund (Troy's Great-grandfather) in Ancestry. One hit was the 1900 census - while he was still living at home with his parents. A few interesting things came out of this document. First, I found Victor's father and mother - Mathias C Lund and Pauline both born in Denmark of Danish parents. Pauline is listed as having given birth to 10 children but having only 9 living. Who was the missing child? Will they be found on a previous census or were they born/died between census'? Is there a state or county birth certificate listing the missing child? Also, Mathias is listed as immigrating in 1869 and as being naturalized. I'd like to find naturalization documents for him. I wonder if they would be on a State level or Federal level. Was he naturalized before Utah was a state (and just a territory, i.e. before 1896)? Similarly, Pauline is listed as immigrated in 1863. I would like to find passenger lists or other records of their immigration. From what I understand, at the time (before 1906) when the father was naturalized his wife and family were as well...I need to verify that. Since Pauline and Mathias immigrated separately, I wonder if their parents were also naturalized?  According to the dates listed Mathias would have been 20yrs old when he immigrated - he could have come alone or with a family. Pauline was 9 years old so most likely came with her family. They are listed as being married for 26 years which means about 1874, so Mathias would be about 25 years old and Pauline about 20 years old at the time of their marriage. Mathias is listed as a farmer who owned his property "free" (i.e. it was paid off in full). His farm is said to be listed on Farm Schedule #34. I'd like to see if I can find a copy of that schedule to see the details of his farm. Finally, I was able to find all of Victor's siblings (living) and their birth month and year. His siblings are: Emma P, Elvira M, Francis M, Hetty L, Heber C, Sadie B, Lettie R, and Clyde E. All in all, this was a very informative document.

---

To investigate:

• Find missing child.
• Immigration records and Naturalization.
• Find Farm Schedule #34
• Verify names and find middle names.

Week 1: Birthday and Birth Place

Many years ago at a church activity I was given a copy of prompts to help in the writing of my own "Book of Memories". I don’t know who wrote it and where it came from but I've been wanting to use it for a long time. I've had many stops and starts, but now its for real! I think it will also help to have you, my dear readers, to keep me going.So, lets get to it!

Every week I’ll post a new topic for you to write about. Come back to this post and link it up in the comments. Feel free to write about yourself or your child, parent, etc. You may even wish to ask a family member to write along with you. Enjoy!

Week 1: Birthday & Birth Place
I would like to suggest that you begin your “Book of Memories by writing the phrase: “I was born on …” and then complete the sentence with the day and date of your birth.

Is there anything significant about the day or date you were born? Did your parents tell you about anything unusual or special that occurred that day? If so, tell me about it.

I would like to know where you were born. You might start with the phrase: “I was born in the _____ hospital (or in a house, etc.) in city, state, country.

Was there anything unusual or significant about the circumstances of your birth? Any complications? Any notable people present? Any notable people absent at your birth?

Were you an adopted child? Foster child? When were you adopted? How old were you at the time of your adoption. Have you always known these circumstances? If not when and how did you find out? Do you with this had been handled differently? We’ll go into more questions concerning adoption later on, for now I am interested in your birth circumstances.

If you were not born in this country, have you acquired a new citizenship? When? What is your new citizenship? Is this new citizenship important to you? Why is it important? What does it mean to you?

Later, in the Chapter titled “Early Life Memories”, I will ask about your memories of the home(s) you grew up in. For right now, is there anything else you would like to tell me about the day, date and/or circumstances of your birth?