The Genealogy Gems Podcast Episodes
2011 Season Six
Episode 101Listen & Show Notes
Tons of great gems in the news, and learn all about becoming a certified genealogist from Alvie Davidson.
Episode 102Listen & Show Notes Genealogy Gems News, Updating your Podcast iGoogle Gadget, Research Strategies and an interview with Kendall Wilcox, Executive Producer of The Generations Project about the new Season 2.
Episode 103Listen & Show Notes
Genealogy Gems News, “Cemetery Justice,” the New Google Books, the New Google Earth Version 6.0 for Genealogy.
Episode 104Listen & Show Notes Genealogy and Technology Converge. Interview with professional genealogist Kory Meyerink on the 50 most popular family history websites. Geo-Tagging photos with Chris Bair.
Episode 105Listen & Show Notes
Interview with Josh Taylor of the New England Historic Genealogical Society on RootsTech. Tips for getting the most out of a conference, NARA videos, and free RootsMagic webinars.
Episode 106Listen & Show Notes Lisa shares her experience at the Who Do You Think You Are? Live show held recently in London, as well as some her own Cooke ancestry sleuthing. Interview with New Zealand genealogist Jan Gow on how to create your own family history resource library.
Episode 107Listen & Show Notes Free Webinars, the 1911 Scotland Census, Fraternal Organizations, and Dick Eastman joins Lisa to talk about Cloud Computing and Computer Security.
Episode 108Listen & Show Notes Census Tips and Tricks with Jason Harrison of FamilySearch. Also how to cite sources from Wikipedia, Lisa finds a newspaper article for a listener, and where to start in looking for Germany records.
Episode 109Listen & Show Notes The Civil War 150th Anniversary with Mike Litterst of the National Parks Service. Also, the new Jamboree apps, free upcoming webinars, and a tale of a military heros bible finding its way home again.
Episode 110 Listen & Show Notes Divorce Research: Little White Lies at the Turn of the Century, free webinar, and special guest Maureen Taylor The Photo Detective from the Who Do You Think You Are? Live event in London.
Episode 111 Listen & Show Notes
Military Records: How to find Invalid and Pension files, New Mexican records, and special guest Roger Kershaw of the National Archives UK gives the back ground on the British Home Children from his book New Lives For Old.
Episode 112 Listen & Show Notes
Helping kids embrace family history at the Genealogy Jamboree.
Episode 113 Listen & Show Notes
Family History Writing with author John Paul Godges.
Episode 114 Listen & Show Notes
Online Security, Records Roundup, Genealogy Blogging with Becky Jamison.
Episode 116 Listen & Show Notes The Genealogy Gems Podcast recorded live at the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree. Special guests: Allison Stacy, Publisher of Family Tree Magazine, and Certified Graphologist Paula Sassi.
Episode 117 Listen & Show Notes
Find out if you should be using “Flourish” in your genealogy research with my guest DearMYRTLE.
Episode 118 Listen & Show Notes
PERSI, Grandmas and Grandpas and Free Transcription Software.
Episode 119 Listen & Show Notes
Prepare for Family History Christmas Gifts, Listener’s Grandparent Terms of Endearment, and 1000Memories.
Episode 120 Listen & Show Notes
Part 1 of Lisa interview with Washington Post editor Steve Luxenberg, author of the riveting true-story book Annie’s Ghost.
“I have been catching up with all of your family history podcasts. Over the years I have collected a wealth of information on the family. Some good, some not-so-good, some out in-the-open, some hidden.
How do you deal with revealing “forgotten” items about family members to other family members? I had an uncle who had a marriage at a very young age, and would like to have forgotten about it. My mother told me about it. I put it on the tree. While showing off the fruits of my labor to his family this “forgotten” marriage was revealed with not happy responses.
The things we find in our tree may not always be “good”, How does a person deal with that? and revealing it to others?”
Secrets, small and large can be found in many families. Skeletons in the closet are often secrets closely guarded by family members.
It’s a tricky business navigating your way through the shakier branches of the family tree, so I’ve invited a special guest to join me on the show who has done an incredible job of climbing those branches in his own family.
Steve Luxenberg is a Washington Post associate editor and award-winning author. In his 25 years at The Post, he has headed the newspaper’s investigative staff and its Sunday section of commentary and opinion. Steve is going to join me for the full episode to talk about investigating and dealing with family secrets as he did in his book Annie’s Ghosts. It’s a riveting tale that kept me feverishly tapping the “Next Page” key on my kindle.
Annie’s Ghosts is about a family secret that Steve stumbled upon in the late 1990s. His mother, who had always claimed to be an only child, had a sister, Annie. And while that was a big surprise all by itself, it was just the beginning of a series of secrets and revelations that Steve unearthed by tapping into his long career as an investigative journalist, and employing newly found genealogy techniques and strategies.
In this interview we talk about being aware of what’s missing in records and stories, rather than just focusing on what is on the page. For those of you who are Premium Members this discussion is a great follow up to Premium Episode #77 where we talked about being more keenly aware during our research.
Steve’s also going to share he thoughts on storytelling, which he truly masters in this book.
And then we get into some of the genealogical techniques he used: how to avoid tainting memories in Interviews, and how to balance the give and take as well as win trust with the person you are interviewing.
And speaking of trust, Steve describes how he was able to be incredibly successful in obtaining sensitive documents and getting cooperation from various government agencies and other repositories.
He’s also going to tell us about a little known legal maneuver that he made that really made the difference for him in obtaining some of the most closely held documents and how you can use it too!
And finally he’ll share his personal feelings about what it was like to get a add a new member to his family, his long lost Aunt Annie.
Enjoy!
Quotes from Annie’s Ghosts:
“What I didn’t expect, as the week wore on, was that the family would expand to take in a new member. But that’s what happened. As people dipped in and out of the records, as the debates flew about what we knew and what we didn’t and whether we should be digging around in the past, Annie gradually became a part of the family consciousness. She was no longer just a name on a hospital record. She was no longer just a secret.”
“I stopped thinking like a son and started thinking like a journalist.”
“I offer to send her the letters; it’s an unexpected present for her, and I’m glad to be able to make the offer, because it allows me to give as well as take, something reporters can’t often do. It’s also a good way to win trust.”
“I want to make sure that if she knows about Annie, she tells me before I tell her, so that I capture her spontaneous memory first.”
If you have immigrant ancestors who arrived in the U.S in the 1900s, these 7 sources can help you track their journey—perhaps even to that overseas hometown, so crucial to your genealogy success! (Thanks to Legacy Tree Genealogists for providing us with this guest...
Elevenses with Lisa Episode 25 Video and Show Notes
Live show air date: September 17, 2020
Viewer Voices: Celebrating Your Family History!
In this episode, we’re celebrating both your unique genealogy path, and the one that we have taken together as a community. The Elevenses with Lisa show has really grown into a vibrant, caring family. Whether it’s something I’m teaching, or a conversation happening in the comments section, there’s always something new to learn!
So, I invite you to sit back and relax with your favorite cup of tea while I share some of your stories, answer some questions, and pretty much talk about whatever tickles our fancy. Click below to watch the video, and follow along here on this show notes page.
Some Googly Questions & Comments
Cathy Gallaghers’s question: “I, like so many others, really enjoy listening to your podcasts and Elevenses!! I have learned a lot! I am having trouble with one concept. I have a “new cousin” that I learned about through DNA. She is a great detective in finding people, places and information.
I want to have our family tree on Google docs so that we can share the family tree and we can start organizing all of our information. What I’m having trouble with is how do you put the tree in google docs? I cannot copy and paste from Ancestry.
I just cannot see HOW to make this large tree in Google Docs AND have a place to have the documentation…I really want to work with this cousin.”
My Answer: I think having everything in your database and saving the database to Google Drive is the way to go. If you don’t have a software database, I encourage you to get one that synchronizes with Ancestry.
Recommended Viewing: Premium Video How to Take Control of and Preserve Your Family Tree Information. (Click here to learn more about joining us as a Premium Member.)
I use and recommend BackBlaze cloud backup – learn more here. (Using this link supports this free show – thank you!)
Google Docs are contained in Google Drive, but Google Drive also can have files that you have uploaded from other sources, like videos, and photos. So, there’s really no point in recreating things in Google Docs. Google Drive gives you a place to store everything as well as collaborate.
Cathy’s Comment
As you’ll recall in Episode 22 I showed you ways to use Google Earth to research your ancestors’ neighborhood. Cathy shared how she used what she learned from that episode in her research. She writes,
“BTW – I downloaded Google Earth Pro and have had a blast putting people on the map. My grandfather wrote a book called, “Passeggiata” the story of his life. He talks about a time when he went to New Haven CT and he wrote down each street he turned down and which direction he went in. I went to google earth and local maps but could NOT find this one street he talked about. When I got the map from David Rumsey and overlayed it – there was the street he talked about – JUST AS HE SAID. I was so excited!”
Speaking of Google Related Things
In episode 23I gave you an introductory tour of Google Photos, and I shared how Google Photos uses facial recognition to find people in your photos.
Well, Dana experienced this technology first-hand! Google Photos found her in a curved mirror reflection!
Dana found by Google Photos!
The First Woman to Vote in Florida
A couple of weeks ago on August 26, 2020 here in the United States we celebrated the 100 year anniversary of women securing the right to vote.
The House of Representatives passed the amendment on May 21, 1919. Two weeks later, the Senate did as well. The amendment was adopted when Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify on August 18, 1920. The 19th Amendment was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution by proclamation of Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby on August 26, 1920.
It was a long road but finally women had the right to vote, and Elevenses with Lisa viewer Melanie Barton’s grandmother wasted no time doing so in 1920.
Melanie sent me her story, and I asked her to record it so I could turn it into a little video to share with all of you which you will see in this episode. (20:30 mark in the video.)
Epilogue: Shortly after voting Fay happily remarried. Here she is with her husband W.C. Bridges in Miami, FL.
House History Follow Up and Stitchery
Pamela Fane left a comment on Elevenses with LisaEpisode 20 on House History Research. She shared two wonderful stories about how the personal touch pays off when it comes to delving into house histories.
“I have land documents citing my ancestor lived on a farm in Bedfordshire, England. While on a trip to Bedfordshire in the mid 1990s I ventured down a long driveway toward the house. I saw a man on a farm tractor and asked him if I could take a photo of his house because my ancestor lived there in former times.
He was not overly friendly and asked me who that might be and when. I told him Thomas Fane lived there in 1761.
“Priestly Farm” by Pamela Fane
Oh, well then, he said, warming to his subject; when you finish with the front, go ’round to the back and make sure you get a photo of the wing that juts from the house because he built that and the man turned back to his tractor. Now there is a man who knows the history of his house.
One of the pictures I took of the front of the house I turned into a stitchery which sits on my hall table.”
In her second story her husband got in on the act.
“On another trip I was leaning over a fence gawking at another ancestor’s property, also in Bedfordshire, England.
My husband was encouraging me to knock on the door. I didn’t want to bother anyone; a photo would be good enough. Well, not good enough for my husband so he knocked on the door.
We were invited in and shown pages and pages of historical papers about the house. The owners were very interested in the history of their house and wanted to know about the people who lived there in former times. I was able to send them all sorts of information covering the 300 years my ancestors lived in the house.
That knock on the door was a win/win for both of us.”
An Ancestral Home in Miniature
After watch the episodes on house history and Irish research, Anne was keen to share a very special house that once belonged to her Irish ancestors. She emailed me a story she had written for her new blog Annecestreeforestwhich she started in January 2020. She also included a PowerPoint presentation with photos.
As I reviewed it I could see the video that it should be in my mind. I asked Anne to record a bit of her story and a descriptive tour which she happily did. The next day I put it all together as a video.
Anne wrote: “It took my grandfather (Alan R Cassidy) a full year, working every day, to build the replica. During that time, unbeknownst to me, he was diagnosed with cancer, and died shortly after giving me the house.
He was a loving person, a strong believer in family heritage, a proud Canadian, honoured to serve as a Chief Petty Officer in our navy, and as a carpenter thereafter for the government.
The highest praise he could give someone was “he is a good man” and he was definitely that.
William and Jane’s descendants include nurses, pilots, lawyers, carpenters, farmers, and an Order of Canada honoree. Their legacy touches us all and is remembered each time I look at the little house.”
Mirror cups
Let’s wrap up this episode with something really fun that’s not genealogy but is on topic because this show is called Elevenses with Lisa. The name comes from the traditional morning teatime / break time of 11:00.
Over the last 25 weeks I’ve shared my cups with you, and as you’ll remember Margaret shared her mother’s mix and match collection of teacups that it turned out were traditionally given at bridal showers.
Well, a few days ago Lindell Johnson sent me a little video she found about some exceptionally beautiful and innovative cups and saucers that bring a fresh perspective to driving tea, and art.
These free online historical maps may help you learn more about your ancestors’ daily lives and flesh out your family history. Find maps for Victorian and Edwardian England and Wales; indigenous people of Canada and the U.S.; European synagogues; the Soviet military...
