I'm in the midst of another "Family History Fever." It's been a couple weeks now. I'm making significant research progress on several family lines (some more direct than others) and it's freakishly addicting. It's all FamilySearch/FamilyTree's fault. They've made it so darn easy to connect real live primary sources to my ancestors' profiles that I just can't stop hooking everything up and making new connections. Most of my research happens during nap time and after the kids are in bed, so the kids hardly notice, but I think Bobby's starting to get tired of it :)
Some neat discoveries so far:
--My great grandmother immigrated with her family to the U.S. from a German-speaking portion of Russia...three of her siblings are "missing" and now I get to to find them! Gotta find someone who speaks Ukranian, Russian, and German to help me out, though.
--My great aunt's father-in-law served as a Union private in the Civil War. He was born in Indiana, not too far from where I live now. His widow received a pension from his military service until the day she died. His probate packet is 219 pages long!!!
--I had a family with three extra kids that didn't belong. I think it was a merging error. But it was satisfying to find the evidence that proved these kids could not be part of this family.
--An ancestor adopted two sons in 1930 with a last name very, very similar to his own. The boys' mother was born in the same state that my ancestor originated from...possibly they are related to their adopted parents somehow? Now I get to figure out who these boys are and how they came to join my ancestor's family!
--Just by hooking up these real-life sources (censuses, birth/death certificates, marriage records) to my ancestors' profiles, I've discovered second marriages, missing children, and completely new siblings for my ancestors that were not recorded before. So, even when it looks like the temple work has "all been done", it's not always complete. All this new FamilySearch/FamilyTree stuff has made it so much easier and faster to find gaps!
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Yaay! You'll have to show me how to use it. It's just frustrating to me now because I'm used to the old form of those sites. So glad you are involved with this!
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