How Do You Do Genealogy?
- Leslie Ryan
- Jul 17
- 2 min read
Friends, I must have heard, "How do you do Genealogy?" or "How do you do that?" a few dozen times over the last few days at the assisted living facility. You may recall that last week's blog was about Genealogy as Dementia Therapy, and I thought I'd put that into action myself to see what happened!
I got permission from the management in advance, outlining my plan to build some simple trees, specifying I would not be charging the residents any money. Then on an afternoon with no scheduled activities, I connected my computer to their large screen TV in the living room, and waited for them to come by on their way back from lunch.
A group of 8 or so, most of whom I had met before under different circumstances, were soon gathered and the most outgoing were quick to share their birthdates, birth places, and maiden names with the group when asked.
We started searching in the 1950 Census, and found their families, and then talked about siblings, what their parents' jobs were, and Googled their street addresses to see if their homes were still there. When we found yearbook pictures in Ancestry the fun really began!
After a couple of hours it became afternoon snack time for everyone, so we stopped researching and started talking about going to school, the funny names some family members have, like "Uva" and "Myrtis," and how you do genealogy.
When Ancestry did its thing and loaded these quick and easy trees with hints, I went back a couple of days later, and we marveled at how far back we could go with some families! I printed out Marriage Licenses, Draft Registrations, and some obituaries for them, which sparked more chats and more memories with a larger crowd!
Oh, what fun we had! I can hardly wait to go back tomorrow and "play" some more. I strongly encourage you to try this with your elderly family members and friends. This has been so rewarding for me, and the assisted living staff reports that it has made a difference for some of these residents.
I have been publishing this blog for a little over 3 years now, and I really appreciate all of you readers and subscribers! THANK YOU!! The very first blog was about starting your family tree research. Basically, how do you do genealogy?
Start your tree with what you know. YOU! Then ask your parents or aunts and uncles about their parents. Are your grandparents still alive? Lucky you! Ask them! Where did they live? When and where were they born? Did they have any brothers and sisters?
You can subscribe to a service like Ancestry or MyHeritage, or start for free at FamilySearch.org. Here is a template you can download and print, for free from FamilySearch, to get you started with a basic presentation of data for your family tree.
If I can help with your tree, send an email to the address below for a FREE NO OBLIGATION review!
Happy hunting, and THANK YOU, again, for your support,
Leslie Ryan
No compensation is received for any links or referrals herein.
No copyright infringement is intended.
