Searches for William and Ellen Hamilton Meanor

I thought if I did some more Internet surfing looking for William and Ellen Hamilton Meanor before I delve back into Meanor Beginnings Newsletters, maybe I could find some connection between what I am reading and what I am looking for. I came up with a few things on William Peart Meanor....Got to remember to e-mail Diane W., but nothing that I can positively pin on William. As for Ellen,.....absolutely nothing, zero, zip, nada.

So taking everything into consideration....I worked on weeding the garden last night instead of pressing ahead. I will be working longer days for a while, so I am not going to get much done.

Meanor Beginnings Vol. 1 Issue 4

This issue provides a well written remembrance of the Nancy Meanor Mason descendancy. Well worth the read even if I turn out not to be related to this line. Tidbits of names and dates were scattered and required a scratch sheet and five gen chart just to get a handle on it.

Names in this issue connect, in my mind at least, with a local Mason history I copied for a customer in about March. I am positive this is still of the computer at work, but if you think I am in any hurry to go back to work before Tuesday, you are out of you mind.

Meanor Beginnings Vol. 1 Issue 3

This one was pretty focused on James McCoy, his wife Rachel Meanor, and their descendants. This source seems more solid, but will still require verifications. I still don't know where this will fall in my own tree. I am going to keep plugging away at the newsletters and see if it answers more questions than it makes. There were a few lines that didn't make sense, but it was a vast improvement over the previous newsletter. I still wish the sourcing was better documented. If this winds up by being a part of my tree, it will require a lot of backing.

Yesterday just got away from me

I finnished scanning Diane's book yesterday and putting it back together. I need to adjust the picture pages, and some of the other pages are really crooked....but that is done. I'll fine tune it later today if I can stand looking at the computer that long.

I finished the next newsletter in Meanor Beginnings and will post some thoughts on it in a separate entry following this one.

I have had no new e-mails for a while. I guess everyone has forgotten about me for the moment. Time to make more e-mail karma. I have found when things get slow if I do so findagrave work it builds more e-mail Karma. I don't think I'll do it today though. I am so worn out from the week that I am sure I'll take a nap later. I got to run to the store this morning to get a card for Dad then it's out to Mom and Dad's for the rest of the day. Nick is going to make old fashioned Shepard's Pie for Dad, and he needs to put the lights on the trailer. I don't know if I will accomplish much today with it being Father's Day.

The Workbook is in beta stage.

Well I am officially using my workbook, but I am still working on the binding issue. For the beta version I am going to put it in a three ring binder. I have a pretty cool one that allows for me to carry all sorts of stuff with it. Everything zips closed so I don't have to worry about loose pages. This will give me some flexibility while I decide how I am really going to use the workbook. At the end of each month I can bind up what I actually used, and use leftover forms, if any, in the next month. This will save on waste and give me a solid reference of what I have done and when. Combine that with the blog, and I think my sources will be stronger.

I am using ready made forms for this version. As a graphic designer though, I'll make my own as I go along. I already put in my forms for cemetery transcriptions. No since in going backwards there. I definitely don't like the family group sheets I am using for the beta. There is no room or place for notes. The multiple marriages are listed on the back of the sheet instead of any where near the individual. Sourcing is difficult unless you use an new form for each source...what a pain in the neck. It is going to be a long difficult road to get where I need to be, but a road well worth the travel.

Thinking of sources, I want to go through my files and double check that everything is sourced. I seem to have lost a lot of links to the sources when I changed from PAF to FTM. Either that or I just didn't realize that my source work was so poor before. I really notice any lack of sourcing with FTM. There is a lot to be said about the differences in the two. I really like the graphic interface of FTM, but it was easier to get around in PAF. FTM however is more where I need to be to grow for now.

Meanor Beginnings Vol. 1 Issue 2

If William Meanor (wife Ellen Hamilton) is the son of William and Margaret Smith Meanor, he had to have been born earlier than the date given, because William Meanor (wife Racheal Peart) was born 6 years prior to the date given for the first William's date of birth. Even reversing the birthdates wouldn't explain the difference.

I don't know how much of the Meanor Beginnings I am going to be able to trust if this is an example of their research. I'll press though a couple of years and see where it goes, or if the quality of information improves. It definatly calls for verifications.

There seems to be some questions about Isaac's chidren that are not resolved in this newsletter. So it makes it even doublly hard to trust anything in the newsletter. The newsletter opens by giving strong first and secondary sources, but quickly drops into speculation with no clues as to what is fact and what is fiction.

I need more solid evidence that is more carefully documented and reported. Nothing personal Grace....I just can't see where your coming from.

Wookbook progress and Findagrave

O.K. So I have the workbook almost put together. I just need a couple of more things and then I am ready to rock 'n roll. I should be done with it today. If I understand the the blog thing correctly I could post the workbook to the blog when I get it done. I'll put that on my to do list.

Today I wanted to add a memorial for g-grandpa Jesse Leon Basil on findagrave. It is up, but it is a long way from pretty. Tomorrow I want to add his picture and a picture of his headstone. The headstone picture I have may not be a complete picture in which case I will request a picture. I also need to add pictures to both of my grandmother's memorials, and to Grandpa Wright's memorial. I need to add g-grandma Basil's parents....findagrave only allows for one set of parents. I think I'll put a link in the text to solve the problem. I need to check out how Robert Regan makes short URLs for this.

I hope to scan and compile the McTeer-Mateer book today. That is a project for work...maybe I'll just go in after hours tonight and get it done.

Yesterday I got the Meanor stuff from Diane Wilson printed, and the Linn stuff from Diane Linn downloaded and printed. I still need to get the Teal Suit picture of Mom and the Johnson letter printed. The Johnson Letter may be a good one to attach to the blog. It is a brief tidbit on the Frank Meanor family.

Just a thought, I should probably make a CD of each family group folder. That way it is backed up in a more logical manner. .....mmmm add CD's to the shopping list.

Why am I Here, and What am I doing

I decided I needed a place where I could keep track of my genealogy research, that I could access anywhere. It would also be nice if I could share it with others more easily. So here I am.

Today my goals were to up date g-grandpa Homer's findagrave memorial with his DSC citation, and link the stillborn to him and g-grandma Basil. I also wanted to start this blog, a recommendation of Robert Regan of treasuremaps.com. Because I believe everything must happen in threes my third goal is to actually start tackling the Meanor Beginnings newsletters with fervor.

So how am I doing? findagrave.com work this morning is done. Blog is created. So on to Meanor Beginnings. I haven't decided if I am going to work on sheets or if I want to just delve right into a new PAF or FTM file. I would prefer to only have to enter the information once so perhaps I'll start with paper and move forward from there. It may be helpful to just bind a bunch of family group sheets in to a kind of workbook.....mmmm I like that idea.

A workbook...I could put in family group sheets, a five gen chart, and note pages. The problem is knowing what I will need for each listing. Maybe if I group them and add cross referencing of some kind...

....and the mad graphic designer is off to the copier.