Japanese 'Prince' Switched At Birth Was Raised A Pauper : The Two-Way : NPR

Japanese 'Prince' Switched At Birth Was Raised A Pauper : The Two-Way : NPR:

Here's a story that illustrates why genealogy is important.  As is often said, "You can't make this stuff up."

'via Blog this'

Bible Lineages

What do we learn from the lineages of Jewish leaders [as recorded in the Bible].

• They remained connected to their heritage.
• They saw their place in history and gained perspective from it.
• They were able to honor and pay respect to their forefathers.
• They saw their lineage as a family blessing and passed on their blessing.
• They used their heritage to provide a sense of stability for their children.
• They sensed tendencies of ancestral giftedness and calling.
• They could retain their identity even when exiled to a foreign land.

(John C. Maxwell, Leadership, 1 September)
28 November 2013

I'll Be Brief

Using abbreviations in your genealogy file isn't a good idea. There's no guarantee that your readers will be able to understand your abbreviations. I've used the RootsMagic edit option to find and expand some abbreviations in the notes in my own files.

Contrary to what I'm writing, I chose to use the Postal Service two letter state abbreviation in the place names of my own work. I've read that this isn't recommended and sometimes worry about my choice.

Dick Henthorn
1 November 2013

Copyright Notice

I include the following Copyright Notice in the "note" of the patriarchs in my genealogy files.

COPYRIGHT: This report, created from the RootsMagic genealogy file of Richard E. Henthorn, is copyrighted by the compiler.  This means you can't post a PDF report created by Mr. Henthorn on the Internet or sell any reports shared with you without his written permission.  Thank you for your consideration.

This doesn't mean I think I own the information in my genealogy files. Rather, it means that I own the format of the compiled information and wish to control how it is disseminated.

When reading one of my reports you may see more than one Copyright notice in the report. This happens because more than one patriarch is in the genealogy file.  This is particularly true in the case of Ahnentafel reports.

Dick Henthorn
30 October 2013

William Bonar Family of West Virginia

I'm adding information about the William Bonar family of West Virginia to my Yoho, Baker, Rine genealogy file.  The source of the information is a 96-page descendant chart shared by friend and researcher T. Vernon Anderson on the webpages of Linda (Cunningham) Fluharty.

I've discovered that some of the Bonar branches link to the Gorby family.  I've gathered information about this family for many years.  A Gorby register report, with name and place indices, produced by RootsMagic from my genealogy file, is over one thousand pages.

Dick Henthorn
29 October 2013

Richmond Edits

Today I completed the edits to the records of people with the Richmond surname in my Yoho, Baker, Rine file.  There still may be collateral surnames that require editing.  I can prepare an indexed Register Report of just over 500 pages for this West Virginia family.

I found a biographical sketch for William Henry Richmond on the webpages of Linda Fluharty and incorporated the sketch and the information it contains into my file.  Thanks Linda for sharing.

Dick Henthorn
6 October 2013

Genealogy Regrets - I have a few

While working on edits and repairs to my Yoho, Baker, Rine genealogy file I've been reflecting on how I got to this point and what it all means to me.

If my recollection is correct, I started working on genealogy about 1987 when I got a personal computer and installed the LDS program Personal Ancestral File (PAF).  Has it really been twenty-six years?

Staying With Personal Ancestral File Too Long

Now, as I am learning to use RootMagic5 for my genealogy, it's more and more evident that I stuck with version 2.31 of PAF too long.  The PAF program wasn't designed to produce a genealogy.  It was designed to support the LDS goal of gathering ancestral information for church purposes.  There was no provision for producing a Register report for example.  Another short-coming was the fact that, for no apparent reason, it was possible to develop a file condition called "cross linked notes."  In my experience it was never evident when this serious file corruption crept into a file.  LDS provided a standalone program to check file integrity and another to correct the cross linked notes.  My success with correcting this issue has been disappointing.

Failing to Document And Maintain Contacts

Over the years of doing genealogy I made many new friends.  Some graciously exchanged genealogy information with me.  I corresponded via telephone, snail mail and Email.  Without the willingness of others to share it wouldn't have been possible to compile information about thousands of people.  I regret that I haven't done a good job of documenting the contact information that would allow me to stay in touch.  Because I failed to cultivate and maintain the contacts it's difficult, in the Fall of 2013, to contact someone if I have a question or want to share information.

Dick Henthorn
29 September 2013