Roberts Roots & Branches

On 28 June 1886 the Roberts family including: Hugh(1), Margaret(2), Sarah Ann(11), Hugh Thomas(12), Mary Elizabeth(14), Jane(15) and grand daughter Maggie(240) immigrated to the United States.   The family traveled on the S.S. Spain.  The family left Liverpool, England and arrived in New York and then traveled to Pennsylvania.

As I have started writing the stories about our ancestors I have learned two things: I don’t know as much as I thought I did and I am asking more questions than I am answering!

We will never know if they were passionately in love.  We will never how they met, or how he asked her to marry him.  We will never know the way they spent their first date or when they first kissed.  We will never know if their parents supported or forbade the marriage.  We will never know how they celebrated their first anniversary or how they celebrated their tenth. We will never know of their hopes, dreams, goals, regrets or personal strengths.   We will never know of their failures, personal sacrifices, or small triumphs.   We will never know if they were loud or quiet, funny or serious, or happy or depressed.   We will never know what their favorite color was, what their favorite season was, or their favorite food. We will never know their favorite flower, favorite pastime, or how they like to spend their free time.   We will never know their faith, their belief in God or lack of, or how they felt most spiritual. We will never know their traditions or customs.   We will never k

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I love the flag with its stars and stripes And the country for which it stands, For the constitution divinely born That governs this Promised Land. I hope to keep my inheritance Holy and undefiled And keep these hallowed words in mind “The Earth belongs to the Lord.” by:  Maughan, Mary E.   (Carter, Kate B, complied by, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1958, Lessons for May, 1958, page 516)

but to the best sourced and most credible!   Ten thousand names in your personal database verses every fact sourced and documented!   What is best?   What describes and best documents the individuals who are listed in the database?   Anyone can come up with a name; but can you restructure a life?   Are you researching “names” or “people”? I enjoy learning about each person.   I like collecting everything and anything I can about each individual because that is what teaches me about that person and about their life.   It is impossible to understand a book by just reading a few pages here and there, likewise a person, who is much more complex, is difficult to understand by just gathering a few documents.   In fact, you are never done collecting documents and sources on a person because new sources continue to become available from online sources or from family sources. The most accurate way to reconstruct a person’s life is by continually gathering everything available.   Even th

In family history research, if you are having difficulties with a certain person, the advice from Anthony Camp is, “Kill off your ancestor!”   In other words, start with the person’s death and work backwards. You want to write your personal history; my advice is the same:   kill off yourself!   Begin by writing your obituary, yes, I just told you that!   An obituary is a brief summary of your life; a story of your life.   Write up a copy to your satisfaction, and then set it aside.   As you go through your week, think of things you may want to add.   In addition, begin to make up a separate list of stories or items from your life you would like to expand upon.   After finalizing your obituary next write up a short biography, “life history” or tribute in the format that is generally used at funerals.   Over time keep adding to your obit and personal history as memories are remembered or as new events happen.   Here are some links with excellent ideas on how to get started on wri

Life is so brief between the bud and the falling leaf. Between the seed time and the golden sheaf, There is no time for malice and for greed, Therefore with love make beautiful the deed. Fast speed the night. ---LaRene Harlett Jesperson—San Diego, California Carter, Kate B, complied by, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1958, Lessons for May, 1958, page 562

Okay everyone, I am so excited and exhausted!   For the month of May, I logged over 193 hours, working some days over 10 hours.   This is a BIG deal because. . . I have over one hundred pages completed on my cemetery book! This is a BIG deal!   I have drawn three cemetery maps: Rock Springs, Riverview, and Rest Haven.   I have written research papers about the history of the cemeteries.   The Riverview Cemetery history is most interesting and includes haunting from the supernatural.   I have drawn detailed directions to each family member’s gravesites.   I have added a picture of their headstone, a transcribed and corrected obituary, a photograph of their headstone, and a personal photograph, if I have one. I am hoping to finish putting everything together this week, so next week I can begin working on a table of contents, an index, and editing.   This is a BIG deal, because I can begin sharing some sample pages!

If you have ever Indexed on Family Search or if you have found an Indexed record on Family Search, then you need to know a kindness feature ! To my surprise I received this message in Family Search: What a nice little gesture . Then, recently, when I was researching and found a record, I saw the little button on the details page: So, I sent a thank you note to the volunteer that transcribed my record.  This is what Family Search automatically generates: What a wonderful feature!   Thank you Family Search!   Thank you for letting researchers reach out and send our appreciation to volunteers for their work! Thank you Family Search for acknowledging our volunteering in the Indexing program! This is really cool.  Please use this feature and let Indexers know how much they are appreciated!

Here is an update on my current projects. I have completed the Rock Springs Cemetery guide including photographs, maps, directions to the graves, and obituaries. I am excited to share what I have written, drawn and compiled! Here's a sneak preview: The numbers by the arrows in the small box entitled, "Bunning Block" are the steps or paces to each grave.  I have also included on the section page GPS coordinates which may help locating graves.  Leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Genealogy research requires the researcher to speculate where to search for documents and various sources.   Sometimes all we have are vague ideas of our ancestors during their migrations or life altering events such as a marriage.   Both, specific speculation and research experience allow us to hypothesize where to search next.   This process can be either our help or hindrance.   There comes a time in all research when you are required to transition.   After thoroughly searching and locating all possible documents and sources, a researcher then must transition to the next step.   It is this transition phase that some beginning researchers are stuck or lost.   Some researchers will not budge on various probable locations or lost because they are overwhelmed with possibilities and cannot define a specific location. To hypothesize means to make a good educated guess, or to make a suggested theory.   Ideas and theories formulated may expand logical search possibilities.   A hypothesi