Collaborative Family History

I had some discussions with Alisha during the family reunion regarding family history, and as she was talking to Josh, they had an idea that revolved around collaborative family history work.  She mentioned that it was difficult for her to start family history because she felt like she didn't have the information at her fingertips.

So, I have uploaded my entire genealogy file from my computer to Google drive (sans personal information for those still living, i.e. all of you birth certificates).  I am going to be sending you all e-mails so that you can have access to the files (hopefully I have all of the right e-mail addresses for you.

Also, within the folder I have created folders for each of the immediate family members.  The idea is that, when one of you does some research, you can upload the photos or information you find to your fold for all to see, then I can log it away in the master catalog of Bean/Petersen family history.

It will also make it easier for anyone who wants to participate in the construction of the Ultimate Research Log.  In each of your folders, I have put a template for the Log.  If anyone wants, they can pull a photo from anywhere in any of the folders, transcribe the information, save your work, re-upload the template and the photo you worked on to your folder, and inform me and I will incorporate your work into the Ultimate Log.  This likely requires more explanation, and if anyone wants to help, they can give me a call or shoot me an e-mail.

Let me know what you think of this (Josh and Alisha's) idea and how we can make it better! Thanks.

Progress: Ultimate Genealogy Research Log

As some of you know, I have been working through each and every source for our family history and painstakingly logging each piece of information.  This is an attempt to provide the very most accurate data for our family tree so that we can more easily spot holes or new work that has not been done yet because of prior mistakes.

I am happy to say that I have completed sourcing all of my records for our ancestors with surnames A-I. I have logged over 6,250 lines of uniquely sourced data.  I have been prompted to complete this project due to a couple of people in the family's desire to start family history and my inability to help because of my enslavement to the project.

If any of you are interested, I have uploaded the excel sheet to Google and you can check it out or download it here: Ultimate Research Log

It's actually too big to actually view online, so if you want to look at the breadth of it, you will probably have to download it.

I am hoping to finish the log in the next couple of months so that we can really get crackin'! Family History is exciting!!!!!

The Isle of Bornholm

I have been dabbling in the Petersen side of the family, and I find their story, while likely common among early Saints, remarkable.  My great-great grandfather, Niels Rasmus Petersen, was baptized into the church on March 26, 1874, in Denmark when he was 23.  Just over a year after he was baptized, he was called to serve a mission on the Island of Bornholm (this island fascinates me and I want to go there someday).

While he was there, he taught and baptized Jensine Caroline Hanson, who, after both of them moved to Manti at different times, he would marry.  They had a son, Niels C. Petersen, who had a son, Ralph Petersen, who had a daughter, Julie Petersen, who is my mother.

I find it incredible that well over one-hundred years ago, my ancestors met on a tiny island with less than 50,000 people on it (less than the city I grew up in) and 1/5 the size of Rhode Island and, that because of these two people, I now have an incredible wealth of blessings that I could not have imagined.  It is much too personal to me to feel random or happenstance.  I am so grateful for open-minded Danes who felt the Spirit and followed the Spirit into the Church.

Here is the obituary where I gleaned a lot of this information:

And here are a couple of pictures of Bornholm.  Want to go with me?

Well, why didn't you tell me I was illegitimate?

A couple years back, I was searching through some of the records my father had obtained from his uncle that had recently died.  I knew my Asmussen line hadn't been explored too thoroughly, so I was excited to fund quite a number of documents on my Asmussen line.

Unfortunately, as I was searching, I realized that the information had all been recorded and the temple work for the individuals had already been completed.  That is, until I came across a shocking discovery.

I was looking upon some records regarding my great great grandfather Johan Heinrich Asmussen when I found a record pertaining to his birth.  I started deciphering the writing, expecting to find as his father Heinrich Conrad Asmussen and his mother Wilhelmina Benedicta Schmidt.  However, I noted a word in German that looked familiar, but that ultimately I did not recognize.  When I looked up the translation, it said "illegitimate."  My eyes widened when I realized what I had discovered.  My great great grandfather was not the son of Wilhelmina Benedicta Schmidt at all.  In fact, he was the child of Sophia Magdalena Lucie Schmidt, a name I had never seen before in any records.  Apparently, Johan had been born of Sophia, but raised by Wilhelmina as one of her own.

What did this exciting revelation mean? It meant that I had an entirely brand new line of ancestry that had never been researched before! What luck! What glory! I carefully studied all of the records in my father's possession and uploaded the names to Familysearch.org (here's a link to Sophia's page).  However, I have done nothing further on the line.

Project:

1) Flesh out this family tree

There is a ton of research that could be done here, but I know very little about German family history.

Ideas:

1) What we need to do is see if we can find any records pertaining to Sophia: See if she remarried, see if she had any other kids.
2) We can look for all of her brothers and sisters in records, too; see if the married, had kids, etc. (plus, I need more information on them so we can do endowments, sealings, etc.)
3) We can try and push this line back as well, starting with attempting to find more information about Sophia's parents (again, I need more information on them so we can do endowments, sealings, etc.)

Where to go first:

1) The best and easiest thing to do would be get the records from my dad, see where they came from, and look in similar records (also, they all need to be digitized for record keeping purposes)
2) Familysearch has an awesome wiki that has so much valuable information.  You could start by reading the Germany page.
3) Then, you might check out the page for Schleswig-Holstein, the area where Sophia was born.  That should give you some idea of records that are available.
4) You could always just Google it.
5) After you are done, check out my favorite German soccer team, Holstein Kiel.  Can you guess why they are my favorite? :)

This is all original research! If you want to talk about it, give me a call! I would love to brainstorm!

Familysearch - What does it all mean

Familysearch.org is awesome.  And it has a ton of information on there.  But a lot of times people get on and say, "What does all this mean? And how can I use this?"

Information on Familysearch is compiled generally from member submissions.  The bulk of it was created from databases downloaded by previous generations (our grandparents and parents) that used the churches software to compile their data.  When they would upload their files to the Church, the church used them all to create one massive massive family tree.  However, all that came with it was the data, none of the sourcing.  So, while likely 85% of the information is correct, there is another 15% that is inaccurate or downright wrong.

What is good as that the majority of people that are on Familysearch.org have had their work done.  So even if we don't exactly know where the information came from, at least we know their souls are saved (well, at least that the have the option of saving their souls).  This is important to understand for those of you who want to simply find a line and experiment and try and find new information.  So, the best way to find potential names for temple work is to go to a line (or some branch of a line) that looks a little sparse or that cuts off early.  Then, you can search both in all directions (laterally as well as descendants and ancestors) to find new people to baptize.  When you find those people, you enter their information into Familysearch, including the source information, and then do the work for them!  Finding one new name can often lead to a cache of other new names.

I am involved in a project that is much more tedious.  I am highly skeptical of all of the information on Familysearch unless it is actually sourced.  I figure, while everyone needs to be baptized, I would rather work on people I know are in my family.  So I have been attempting to create a tree that has only information that I can pin to a specific source.  This project is not conducive to finding new names for baptism, but they do pop up occasionally.  Dataheads can join me in my quest.

William and Sarah - Someone thinks we're married ...

William Bean and Sarah Wallage are my fourth great grandparents on the Bean side of the family.  I found information that their marriage record was extracted way back when by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  However, I don't have copies of the original.  I have found that looking at the original Marriage records and searching through the entire film can produce a wealth of additional information.  This is the printout of the extraction:

This is the information you will use to locate him on the film. Now, this one is confusing, because there appears to be no film for 1832 ....  However, after a little research, I think 0254576 is the way to go.  I literally have no primary documents on these two, so this record would be awesome.

Oh, and if you're interested, this is the sweet church they got married in.

Project:

1) Order the film number 0254576 from the family history library (use this link) (the films cost $7.50 to rent on a short term basis)

2) Find a Family History Center with a film reader

3) Search the film for the name "Bean" or "Wallage"

4) If your Center has the capability (and let's pray they do), capture each image that could potentially be related to the Bean and Wallage families; otherwise just write down all the information

5) Rejoice in your discovery!

William Bean - I've been Christened!

William Bean is my second great grandfather on the Bean side of the family.  I found information that his Christening record was extracted way back when by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  However, I don't have copies of the original.  I have found that looking at the original Christening records and searching through the entire film can produce a wealth of additional information.  This is the printout of the extraction:

This is the information you will use to locate him on the film. 

Project:

1) Order the film number 025462 from the family history library (use this link) (the films cost $7.50 to rent on a short term basis)

2) Find a Family History Center with a film reader

3) Search the film for the name "Bean"

4) If your Center has the capability (and let's pray they do), capture each image that could potentially be related to the Bean family; otherwise just write down all the information

5) Rejoice in your discovery!