Genealogy Do Over Week 1

OMG. I hemmed and I hauled. I considered and reconsidered. I did not want to throw away almost 30 years of research! And then … it hit me – I did not have to throw away everything I already have done and learned. On top of that my #1 goal this year (See Genealogical Goals for 2015) is “Tweek it!” So … here I am.

I do not plan really to set aside research but rather go through files (paper and electronic) and make sure everything meshes. I have checklists I use but I need to update them.

Today I will be going through my folders and work on my tweeking. I will start with my family versus hubby’s simply to keep some order and not get overwhelmed. In fact, since this Do-Over exercise is only 13 weeks (I think I counted right!), I may limit it further to my Dad’s side. Since his was one of the first lines I worked on, I am sure to find new information and find mistakes or assumptions that I need to correct.

Genealogy Do-Over is a 13 week challenge from Thomas MacEntee, of GeneaBloggers. Week One actually ran from 1-8 January so I’m sliding in on the last day this week. Looking over my personal/work schedule as well as posts/articles I already have planned, I am aiming to publish these Do Over posts on Sundays.

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Coatesville's First Serial Killer

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Genealogy Do Over Week 9: Cluster research

This week’s prompt is conducting cluster research. Cluster research, as defined by Thomas MacEntee is, “ When you research the friends, associates and neighbors (aka F.A.N. club) who were part of the community of your direct line ancestors. Most times this means focusing on the geographical area where your ancestors lived or the locales from and to which they migrated.” What a great definition! I did this without even realizing it when I started researching my Hruszczak line and my parish family. Many Ukrainians in Coatesville lived in Rock Run and many of them worked at the steel mill together. In this particular case, it helped me more understand the family dynamics within my parish more so than any specific information about my family. For example, the 1930 census shows my great grandparents and their family living next to the Zydnsky family. They lived next to the Urbans who were next to the Maskulas. I did find a nephew living with the Maskula family who I had not hea

Genealogical Gems

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