Thursday 4 April 2013

Hits and misses at the Family History Library

As part of my RootsTech experience in Salt Lake City, I visited the Family History Library to do some personal research. It was  very much a fascinating experience - so much to see and do and so little time.

I decided that I would focus on John Ball, my 4x great-grandfather, a tailor in South Molton, Devon. I had very limited information on John - much of which came from a copy of an 1815 will that I had obtained last year.  He's been bit of a mystery as his life predates civil registration. And, I have learned that there were many John Balls in Devon during that time period.  In any case, I also knew that he had married Agnes Painter in 1797 and had been recorded as a widow in the parish marriage register. So, my focus was on finding his previous wife (or wives) and any children. I had searched the FamilySearch.org website and had some leads on microfilm of parish registers which might yield some results.

Much to my chagrin, many of the microfilms were of transcriptions of parish registers and didn't yield much more information than was found in the online records on the FamilySearch website. I did find serveral marriages indexed for John Ball - one of which could have been my John Ball, but alas with nothing to corroborate the facts and details.

However, all was not in vain.  I did find a cemetery transcription for South Molton where John Ball is buried. According to the headstone transcription, John's age at death was noted as 76 - making his year of birth approximately 1739 or thereabouts.

So back to the drawing board, I go - at least armed with  another hint or clue about John's life.  I am thinking that I'll need to review what I have collected so far and contact the Devon Record Office and Online Parish Clerks (OPCs) for Devon. Substantiating facts before civil registration is proving to be a challenge.  If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers, K.

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Remembering RootsTech and Dad


My first RootsTech experience is now a pleasant memory of many great sessions, lessons learned, wonderful genealogists and the friendly people of Salt Lake City.

 I also came away feeling a little bit closer to Dad as Mom and I attended Gonzaga's final West Divison game at the Energy Solutions Centre.  The game was held on Saturday March 23rd against Wichita State.  Sadly, the Bulldogs lost, but it was an exciting game with the scoring going back and forth. And it was neat to experience the mania that is US college sports - so unlike our university athletics in Canada (well, perhaps with the exception of hockey...)

The anniversary of Dad's passing always sneaks up on us - but the fickle weather of spring and Easter mark the final countdown to "the day". It's always a bittersweet time - of reflection on love and loss, fond memories of good times and the pain of his passing. Perhaps Mom and I were meant to be in Salt Lake while Gonzaga played in the basketball tournament finals - I like to think that Dad would have wanted it that way. He's been gone 21 years today, but not forgotten.

Cheers, K.

Friday 22 March 2013

Cool coincidence at RootsTech

Nana, Dad and Granddad, Gonzaga University, Class of 1955 Graduation Ceremony













Busy day at RootsTech. Great sessions and interesting talks. We didn't make it to the Family History Library but have registered for the Friday Late Night at the Library event. I even managed to tweet using my new phone (with wifi that was patchy at times).

When we arrived in Salt Lake, we learned that Dad's alma mater, Gonzaga University, was playing in the March Madness tournament. The team is ranked #1 in the West division and have a star Canadian player, Kelly Olynyk . They were set to play Southern University at the Energy Centre today at 2:10pm. The arena is just a block away from our hotel.

Dad played basketball and baseball for Gonzaga in 1953-1955 on a sports scholarship. I recently found a treasure trove of digital images on the Gonzaga University Special Collections website. This is a link to a photo of Dad on the 1953-54 Gonzaga Jr. Varsity basketball team. Mom and I have been thinking of him as the game approached.

Well, my Mother decided to cut the conference this afternoon and went to her first ever NCAA basketball game - and watched the Bulldogs defeat Southern University. A kind of date with Dad, after all these years. I am really proud of her. You rock, Mom!

Cheers, K.

Thursday 21 March 2013

Getting ready for RootsTech

I can hardly believe that the day is almost here... RootsTech begins tomorrow morning. Recent reports suggest that over 6,800 attendees are due to flood the gates of the Salt Palace (which is happily next door to our hotel) on Thursday. We picked up our registration packages this afternoon after spending the day at the Family History Library. Now to sit down and re-trace my workshop registrations and map out the day. I am really looking forward to meeting my fellow Geneabloggers tomorrow and beginning the adventure that is RootsTech.

Cheers, K.

Tuesday 19 March 2013

Storm chasing

Well, after a very long day, we have made it to Salt Lake City safe and sound. An approaching storm forced us to take an earlier flightout of Toronto so we could meet our connection in Chicago for Salt Lake City. We met a wonderful teacher bringing back her music class students to Kansas City after their trip to New York City and performance at the Lincoln Centre. Memories, I am sure, that which will become cherished family stories for those students one day.

Cheers, K

Sunday 17 March 2013

Rootstech and Research

Life has been very busy lately - especially with my workplace under construction and a move of collections and staff into temporary quarters. And it hasn't left much time for family history research and keeping up with various social media.

Nevertheless, I've been trying to get ready for RootsTech too. RootsTech is a popular and well attended genealogy conference in Salt Lake City Utah, which offers genealogy enthusiasts the chance to learn about the newest developments in technology, resources and family history preservation. I am fortunate to have my attendance funded by my employer and have added a few days of rest and research in Salt Lake City. RootsTech promises to be exciting and I am looking forward to meeting some of my genealogy blogging heroes like Jill Ball, Amy Coffin and Thomas MacEntee.

While I don't anticipate that I will be able to find all the answers to my research queries, I am very much looking forward to exploring the Family History Library, absorbing the spirit and enjoy of genealogy's mecca that is Salt Lake City. The trip will doubly special because I am sharing the experience with my Mom, who is coming to the conference too. So, time to get that suitcase packed...

I will keep in touch over the blog to let you know of interesting finds and conference events (that is, of course, I can figure out how to use my new smartphone. Nothing like adopting new technology on the eve of a conference!)

Cheers, K.

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Reflecting on genealogy and milestones

As I head towards a milestone birthday later this month (I'll not say which, but I haven't been able to claim '29 and holding' in decades), I have been thinking about how much genealogy has shaped and continues to shape my world - both professional and personal.

As I get older, the meaning of family and home has taken on different, yet stronger meanings for me. Having moved around a lot while growing up, I don't have a strong sense of home as physical place. However, I do feel attachment to many places - where I have lived, where my parents lived and where our ancestors lived too. Learning and understanding how these places have shaped or influenced me or my family is a big part of my interests and research nowadays. My own family means more to me than anything in this world - helping to connect them to our collective past and connecting with our extended family is a privilege and honour.

Genealogy has given me a way to root myself in many ways - to places, people and events which I had never considered before. Personally, I've also found that my precious spare seems to be devoted to genealogy and family history research. I look forward to attending RootsTech with my mother in March and sharing with her new discoveries about the field and the technical wizardry that makes this field so interesting (and challenging too, to say the least). Life seems to be speeding along nowadays - perhaps that is a sign of my age, too.

Professionally, I spend my days helping others find their homes, places and families - a journey which I am honoured to share with them. Nothing feels better than helping someone to make the connection between a long lost relative or ancestor. Conversely, I can understand that frustration of brickwalls and those research avenues which bear little in terms of concrete results. They are all part of the process.

As much as I look back to my own and my family's pasts, I am also looking forward to the future - shared with family, friends and genealogy colleagues.

Cheers, K.