Roberts Roots & Branches

What are wildcards ? A symbol that replaces or represents one or more letters.   The asterisk (*) replaces one or more letters and the question mark (?) replaces a single letter. The Java Tutorials describe: “In generic code, the question mark ( ? ), called the wildcard , represents an unknown type. The wildcard can be used in a variety of situations: as the type of a parameter, field, or local variable; sometimes as a return type (though it is better programming practice to be more specific). The wildcard is never used as a type argument for a generic method invocation, a generic class instance creation, or a supertype.”(1)   Why do we use them in genealogy?                                                     ...

"Want to know how long you’re going to live?   Look no further than your family tree.   A new study by the Boston Medical Center and Boston University Medical School proves that those with long-living relatives tend to live longer than the general population, according to Reuter Health.   Among 444 families with at least one member who lived to be 100 or older, siblings of centenarians had a mortality rate about half as high as the national average throughout their lives.   Scientist will continue to focus on these long-living families to find the genes that give them a survival advantage." source: Jackson, Susan Wenner, published 1 October 2002, www.familytree.magazine.com:  http://www.familytreemagazine.com/article/family-tree-or-crystal-ball

For those of you who are interested, Lynn Palermo, the Armchair Genealogist, has created the Family History Writing Challenge, 28 Days of Motivation.   This begins next Sunday, February 1, 2015.  You may choose an ancestor, surname or branch of your family tree.   In addition, you pick the number of words you want to write each day and register here:   http://www.familyhistorywritingchallenge.com/.  Good luck and let me know how you did!

The following quotes are from Todd Hansen, host of BYU’s The Story Trek, when he was a speaker at the 2014 RootsTech Conference.    “I am a master story teller, who believes everyone has something to say.   I believe that it doesn’t matter who you are, or where you’re from, you matter.” “To capture your story. . .you need to have a piece of paper, you   need to have a pencil or pen, any camera, an old fashioned tape recorder. . ., anything that will let you preserve your memories.   And believe me what you don’t think is a big deal right now, will be a big deal later.   You just might look back and treasure, what at the time seemed like the silliest of things.” “Just pull out that camera or that pen and that paper and document where you are.” “What I try to get at and try to achieve on my show is that every life is important; what you do is important, and every person is worth getting to know.   Every one of you has a compelling stor...

Rock Springs train station, 1881.  (five years before the Roberts family came to the U.S.)

Rock Springs Miner 7 July 1888 page 2, accessed Wyoming Newspaper Project online.

Little children anxiously await the celebration of their birthday.   The anticipation of a desired gift, cake and ice cream, the gathering of friends and family or other traditions make birthday’s memorable celebrations.   When you’re a kid, your birfday, is a recognition and celebration of you. Every time a deceased loved one is remembered, their memory is refreshed and their life not forgotten.   If their names are never mentioned, then their names begin to fade.    This is why I have chosen to recognize and celebrate the Roberts family birthdays!