Thursday, May 21, 2015

Genealogy & Facebook

In dancing with the ancestors, there are many avenues of research - Google, FamilySearch, Ancestory, Rootsweb, and a bunch of others. Another fabulous avenue of research is - Facebook. More and more, different genealogy sites - Rootsweb, TNGENWEB, etc. - are creating Facebook pages which you can join and, hopefully, find out information about your ancestors. In addition, there are many family pages, as in - Sevier Family, Campbell Family, etc. Then, there are the county web pages, and the photo pages, and so on, and so on, and so on.

If you're not using Facebook as part of your genealogy regimen . . . get on it, people!!

For my Sweat cousins, we have a family page devoted to just the descendants of our grandparents William Oscar and Mary Willie (Boone) Sweat. On this page, we share all the old family photos, reunion announcements, and just day to day stuff that keeps us connected to each other. In addition, I share all the family history stuff I find as I dance with the ancestors. It's a convenient place and, I don't have to email the cousins individually, just post a link to files/websites and . . . voila, it's done, information shared, and I'm on to more researching.

In addition, on my personal web page, I make note of birthdays and weddings of my ancestors. For example, today - May 21 - was the day my 2 x Great Grandfather was born, back in 1839. My post on my page was: 

On this day in my paternal family history, my Great Great Grandfather James Douglas Tate was born in 1839 in Warren County, TN. He was the son of John Tate and Leodicia Hogg. He married Mary Jane McGregor and they had two children. 

But, not only was 2 x Great Gramps born on this day, but my Great Gran was born also, so this post appeared on my page as well:

On this day in my maternal family history, my Great Grandmother Mary Willie Watson was born in 1872. She was the daughter of Richard Hilary Watson and Anna Marie Johnson. She married Victor Ivo Boone and they had 15 children.

In this way, on my Facebook page, there is a record of the events in my ancestors lives and, in this way, I honor the past, the people that came before me, that make the life I lead today possible.

So, when dancing with the ancestors, make sure to utilize Facebook a) to your advantage and b) to share the past of your ancestors.

S

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