My Genealogical Research Arsenal

I have three computers in my genealogy research arsenal (GRA): All of them are Dells and have their different uses.

Dell #1 is an XPS purchased in 2002.  It is ‘my” computer where I have the majority of my genealogical files within easy access. Dell #2 is “Jim’s” computer but it has the scanner hooked up to it because that is where we had physical space to put it on his desk.  Dell #3 is my new laptop and most of the time it sits by me on the love seat (we’re in love) and I use it to compose articles sometimes, and sit and relax and surf the web. All of them are networked together so I can access most things on the other.

My scanner is quite old but still going strong (knock on wood). It’s a Umax Astra 1220S.  It’s a flatbed scanner (SCSI “scuzzy”) and does an excellent job for me.  The only challenge is keeping people from putting things on the lid.

Next in my equipment is my HP Deskjet 5940 printer. I like having a separate printer because if something goes wrong with any of my peripherals it is just that one machine, not all of them out of service. That’s just me though.  I’m not totally thrilled with this printer, only because for some reason it has quit printing envelopes for me. But, I have a solution for that problem that works most of the time…

Also in this list is the Avery Personal Label Printer that I like to use when I have just one label I want to print off.  The printer has an associated program that lets me save labels in a file and I can access and print them quickly.

It goes without saying that all of us genealogists use our telephones and cells for communication purposes.  There’s nothing like a call from a new cousin!

Over the years I’ve been very luck to be able to add to my personal genealogical library, see  A Dozen Genealogy Books I Own and each year it seems to get bigger.  Jim just came home from Iowa with some books about his home town of Clinton and another about the submarines built in Manitowoc, Wisconsin during World War II by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company.

I have used Family Tree Maker program since it was begun by Broderbund and up until they changed it to accommodate Vista users I really liked it.  I have the 2010 version I can use, but I prefer the ease of using my old 2006 version and I worry that it will not be supported someday.  It’s so much easier for me to see and make sense of the family pages. I don’t like everything crammed into one screen like on the newer versions.

Probably my biggest guns in my genealogical arsenal are my subscriptions to websites like Ancestry and photo sites like Flickr.  For the truly paranoid who are worried about losing everything (that would be me) I also subscribe to Carbonite.  I’m an Ancestry affiliate and if you’re interested in joining please click on one of my Ancestry ads in the sidebar.

My genealogy friends are priceless and you can find them at these various sites and groups:

Geneabloggers on Facebook

Geneabloggers main site by Thomas MacEntee

webduck’s genealogists list on Twitter (that’s me!)

Gather genealogy-related groups: Grandmother stories , Grandfather Stories , Genealogy Central

Last, but not least, I’m a member of the National Society DAR, the Ozark Springs DAR Chapter of West Plains, Missouri, and an associate member of the Elizabeth Ellington DAR Chapter, Bremerton, Washington.

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Two Hundred Years Of Living

We are delighted to say that we’ll have two people in our family turning 100 this year!  First, is my cousin Fran Prantl Harbeston’s widower Herb Harbeston who will turn 100 on May 20th.  Here’s what his son Jack wrote about his father:

“When Herb was born, in 1910, the average life expectancy was 47 years, so he has managed to beat the odds, to put it mildly.  To give you an idea of the changes Herb has seen in 100 years, consider that when he was born women couldn’t vote, there was no social security, no income taxes and no big government.”

“Homesteads of 160 acres were free, you just had to live on the land for five years and improve it.  Transportation was by horse and wagon, and trains.  Herb’s mother, Becky and her sister Millie both homesteaded in the Colombia [River] Basin about 1890.  Becky and her first husband homesteaded a wheat ranch in the Palouse, near Pullman.  Becky had to give up the homestead when her husband contracted TB, and went back home to Brandsville, Missouri, to die.  Millie settled south of Quincy, near what is now I-90, and eventually moved to Vantage where her husband operated the ferry across the Columbia River.”

“In 1932, with a wife and child, and another on the way, with no vocational skills and an unemployment rate pushing 50%, Herb migrated to Washington, staying first with Millie, and then a series of farms, which included herding sheep.  That was nearly 80 years ago. ”

May 2000 Birthday Gathering

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Opal Breedlove Hudson

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pookie16

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As you may have noticed, I have not posted for a while. I have been on a genealogical journey of sorts, researching the Bordeaux family of Washington state. After I wrote my article A Visit to Old Bordeaux, to my surprise I was contacted by one of the Bordeaux family descendants and he and I are just getting to know each other via email at this present point. In a way, I feel like if I can share some of his family history with him, then I will be giving back. The Bordeaux family helped many people survive the Depression, including mine.

In my search for Bordeaux family information and documentation today, I did a search for Mason County Logging Company, the name of the Bordeaux family enterprise. Originally, it had been Bordeaux Brothers Logging Company, but as they set down roots in the Capitol Forest here in Washington, the brothers, Thomas, Joseph and Gilbert (along with their sister Virginia) settled in Shelton, Washington.

Getting to the point of this saga, I found a wonderful site named the Shadow Catchers where there were several old logging pictures, including some of the Bordeaux brothers logging with oxen. I would like to have some of those photos, but for me, it might be cost prohibitive. They do barter though, so maybe I might have something they would want?

Shadow Catchers doesn’t just have historic photos, they also sell modern and contemporary ones, as well as license them for publication.

Make sure you take a look at these fine galleries:

Popular Galleries

Native Americans

Logging and Lumbering

Oystering and the Seafood Industry

Those are just three of twenty-four topics covered. I suggest you prepare for a long spell at this site. Grab a cup of whatever you drink, and settle in to be immersed in history and fine photography. One thing I should mention, this site is still being built, so there might be a few links that don’t work quite yet. Visit often though, they are updating it all the time. Oh, and if you really, really like the site and its offerings, make sure you get on their mailing list. I did!

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You may have seen it in the news or online, but if not, there has been found a previously undiscovered Helen Keller – Anne Sullivan photo found in a collection donated to the NEHGS.

An NEHGS staff member discovered the photograph while combing through a large photography collection recently donated by Thaxter P. Spencer, 87, of Waltham, MA. (Full story can be read here.)

The signifcance of the photo is that there are very few images of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan when Helen was a child. This is a truly intriguing photo and I hope you have the time to read the full story by clicking on the link I have included above.

On a more personal note, just this week I had the heart-warming experience of sharing a photo of my ancestor Eleazer Smith with a new-found cousin. It was early evening and the phone rang, and Katie introduced herself and how we connect with the Smith family.

She had found online where I had said that I have a photo copy of Eleazer (Ale) Smith and she wondered if I still had it in my possession. The photo was generously copied by another cousin named Christine Brady who lives in Tennessee and given to me for my records.

When I was given this photo it was as if a pot of gold had been dropped in my lap. I never thought I would see a photo of this GGG-Grandfather. And now, I have shared it with Katie and I know she feels the same way. Ale was born in 1803, and since he looks to be a young man in this photo, it was most likely taken in the 1820′s or so.

Many of my family photos can be found on Webshots.  I have posted them there as public albums so that any of my cousins and kin can see them and download them if they like. I don’t see myself as the ‘owner’ of the photos and documents I have, but ratehr the ‘caretaker’ and as such, it is my goal to keep them safe but also share them with as many people as possible. That way, history is not lost. Do you feel the same way?

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