A to Z blogging challenge reflection

This is my second year doing the A to Z blogging challenge. I did California destinations last year but this year it was a way to get a start on the other side of my family history. 

I am not really a blogger. Last year was my first attempt at maintaining some sort of schedule. I am also a lazy blogger but I did sign up to receive posts from the blogs I enjoyed so I can continue to read those. 

I was one of MJ's minions. It made me read blogs I would have otherwise overlooked. I do have a suggestion for next year though. I think all the blogs should have some sort of identification. Mine is clearly family history but there were many I didn't find until later that were topics I was really interested in. 

I scheduled most of my posts. That made it so much easier and I was free to spend more time reading others. If I do it again next year, I will follow the same schedule. 

I am glad the challenge is over because at the end of the month, our lives got dramatically busy. At least I was able to finish the month although I wan't able to read or comment on the last few days. I will go back and catch up when I have some breathing room.  

Thanks to the people who read my posts and left comments. They were appreciated. A big thanks to the other bloggers who enriched my life with their posts. I laughed and learned. 

Commenting on blogs

This is a giant "I'm sorry" if I haven't left you a comment in several days. I have a large list of favorites that I like to visit and I am trying to get though a lot of the new blogs I haven't seen yet. I was doing a fairly good job until Wednesday. That's when there was a shooting next door and someone died.

We know bad things can happen anywhere so we accept that next door is as good as across the country but when it's next door, the daily routine changes. We were in the crime scene tape area and my husband had to be escorted out to go to work. My 13-year-old saw most of it and had to talk to the detectives. He was bummed out all day yesterday and I spent very little time with the A to Z challenge. They finally took the tape down late yesterday afternoon but it was like living in a war zone with police, forensic teams, detectives, the coroner, and other personnel. Murder is a very ugly thing and although it was not our family, we are so sad for the family next door. There are small children there and it will change them forever.

Today I am working to get back on track. I sent the boy to Sea World with some friends so he can have time away from here. I am working though the blogs because it is one of the things I really enjoy. The A to Z challenge is an amazing way to learn about all kinds of new things, get research help, and in general, travel from place to place. Right now, the A to Z is exactly where I need to be.

B is for Bait (Cousin, that is)

Until recently I had not heard the term "Cousin Bait". I think I get so into the research that I forget other people are out there doing the same thing. I am a fan of "The Armchair Genealogist" and have learned so much from Lynn and her guests. I may have heard "Cousin Bait" there although I can't remember.

**UPDATE: Tony Proctor of Parallax View  asked me this morning if I knew the originator of the term "Cousin Bait".  Of course, I didn't but did a cursory search without success. However, he did find what appears to be the original post in Greta's Genealogy Blog on December 31, 2010. I am glad he found it and I appreciate the time he took to provide me with that information. I also like to give credit where credit is due. Thanks, Tony!** 

***Update to the update: Tony is a much better researcher than I and found a much earlier use on Judith (Merryman) Holland's page dated June 24, 2005.***

The point is to put the names out there and hope that someone is also looking for the same person.

I have spent the last two years completely absorbed in finding out everything I could about my dad's family. the Rhea's. I was even fortunate enough to make a trip to Tennessee to see where my grandfather grew up. I did the Family History Writing Challenge in February, putting all my stories together about my great grandmother, Martha Jane McCollum. I haven't even started on my grandmother's side. This is going to take forever.

While I did that, I joined the 52 ancestors in 52 weeks. I know my Texas family on my mother's side but now I find, not as well as I should. It is going to be a stretch to do 52 weeks and the A to Z Challenge with the same family.

However, it has netted me two new cousins so far and that's terrific. This cousin bait thing works and I'm looking for names on the other blogs to see if someone can reel me in too.

A is Ann Eliese, that would be me

Hi, welcome to the A to Z Challenge. I am Ann Eliese. That's the name my mom gave me after her best friend, Anneliese Pulverman. Because she didn't want to add a middle name to it, she made it two words. That's a little tidbit of family history that might be lost if I don't write it down. It's those little tidbits that make family history interesting and compel those of us who track our ancestors to continue. (BTW, I am called Ann most of the time. No one can spell Ann Eliese.) 

Family history is a very small niche audience. My apologies to those who will not find my ancestors fascinating. I completely understand. However, for those whose passion is genealogy, other family histories may lead to discoveries and that's why so many blog about it. It's quite amazing what I've found on the family history blogs of others.

I am just starting to explore the Yeakley/Jones side of my family. The Rhea/McCollum side started out as dates and facts and after several years, turned into real people. I am hoping as I go through this, I gain a deeper understanding of who the Yeakley/Jones ancestors were as people.

Part of the A to Z will be devoted to my aunts and uncles. They are all gone now but live on in my memory. Everyone deserves to be more than just a page of birth, census, and death dates. That takes care of eight of the letters.

I started writing about the ancestors I'm researching but had a change of heart (mostly because my pesky ancestors aren't cooperating). Really, how hard can it be to live in the same place forever, use the same spelling each time, and participate in every census? So I've changed my focus and will turn this into a hodgepodge of miscellaneous family information but not necessarily my family. 

My  mom had pictures of family friends and coworkers from the 1940's. They're not my ancestors but they have family somewhere. I firmly believe that all information should be shared so there will be some days of photos of people I don't personally know. I don't normally self-promote my blog posts but in this case, I am going to tweet, post to facebook and google plus hoping that someone in their family will find it and ask for the original photos. 

And for those pesky ancestors who won't stay in the same place, I will get you...it just won't be in April. 

Historical societies - a great place for research on family history

On my upcoming blog post on the A to Z challenge, specifically "Y", I bemoan the fact that my ancestors hide behind other names and make it difficult to track them. I am having trouble with Benedict Yuchli. Apparently he's not mine but belongs to other Yeakley's who are semi-related to me.

In desperation, I wrote the Cocalico, Pennsylvania historical society hoping they could direct me to some source that would help clear up the confusion. I received a reply yesterday from Cynthia Marquet, the librarian at the Cocalico Library with more information than I expected. While she could not make the connection either, she did verify some of the rest of the facts and she has also sent my questions to the Ephrata Cloister to see what they have.

Historical libraries are a great place to go to when all else fails. Actually, they are probably the first place I should go. I have had great success with not only the Cocalico library but the one in La Farge, Wisconsin. When you live in California, it is difficult to do the research in far away places. We vacation once a year in the mid-west but getting to Pennsylvania is not on the agenda.

So a big thanks to Cynthia for her help. Her response will be posted on the "Y" post that will need to be rewritten to share the new information. As I have stated before, family history is fluid and changes with the ebb and flow of facts and details. And will the real father of George Yeakley please reveal yourself!