Seriously.
The first thing is that someone in my extended family sent me the invite.. That’s ok, but the reason is that she added me to her family tree. Got your interest yet?
Unless you’re related to me (Thank your lucky stars if you’re not), you’ll have to join on your own. Go to www.Geni.com and sign up. Geni is a genealogical social network website, and you have got to check it out.
I’ve tried several times to get my family tree down. Once, years ago in a notebook. Once with a program on an old Mac. Thing is, I just didn’t have the time (nor the inclination) to do it right and accurate. While my aunts and uncles were still living, I gathered some data, but that is scattered, as well. Software for this kinda thing isn’t cheap, by the way, at least not for the good ones, but even with the best software, the performance is based on you and your efforts.
What’s great about Geni, and what will ensure its success is the wiki-like sharing of information. I spent about an hour entering names and info on my kids and then names and some info on my cousins, and then names of my aunts and uncles, the data growing scarcer as the generations progressed. Each time I added a person, it gave me an option of inviting them by sending an email to them.
Then, when they join the tree, they can update and add information that they have about the family, and the tree becomes more and more intelligent, adding dates of birth, death, marriage, etc.
You can even add a picture to each person on the tree.
Make sure to check it out. Its a great way to start keeping track of your family and an excellent way to get your extended family to talk to each other.
2 comments:
Hi Tim,
this Geni site is very interesting. My mom has been somewhat diligent about digging around for this sort of info, but I, like you, have had neither time nor inclination. My husband is from Cuba, and that would be an interesting family tree to investigate as well, although records may be difficult to come by since they left most everything to escape Castro.
Good luck on your search-you'll have to post the interesting things you find.
Best wishes,
Michele
Thanks Michele,
I actually had a pretty big breakthrough recently when researching my family tree. I had some trouble with getting the scoop on my great grandfather's parents confirmed. I finally found the records I needed in an old Upstate New York research piece.
However, once I confirmed his parents, I was off running, quickly finding other family trees back to the boat (the one that came from England) that my ancestors took. 1638-1640.
I was excited, but kept going. I found some contacts on the other side of the pond, and then found 5-10 family trees, one from Germany, that took my family back to the 9th century. Wild stuff.
I still have other legs of the tree to research, but when you come upon a break through, its very exciting.
Good luck with your research. Finding records in Cuba will be an interesting project, no doubt.
Tim
Post a Comment