Looking Back and Looking Ahead, 2023-2024

Happy New Year, Everyone! We did it – we made it through 2023, whatever that took for each of us to do it. And here we are, at the bright shiny beginning of a new year, trying to imagine who we will be – and who we want to be – as we make our ways through it. 

Gerald G, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Today felt like a day to put some thoughts down about what I've accomplished genealogically in the past year, and what I'm looking forward to in 2024. Here goes!

What Am I Up to When I’m Not Posting About My Family History?

Sometimes I go weeks or even months without putting a new post up on this blog. Sometimes that’s because I’m just very busy at work and/or with my other responsibilities and don’t have the time or mental energy to write and illustrate a new entry. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not doing genealogy! So what are some of the things I might be up to? Here’s a list, along with some hopefully helpful suggestions if you want to do the same or learn more: 

Genealogy Goals: 2019

It's 2019, y'all! And somehow, it's already the middle of January, that month of goal-setting and fresh starts and hopeful ideals. As I wrote in my last post, I learned last year that the mental load of my job means I don't always have a lot of mental energy (or sometimes, time) to work on my genealogical research. I tried to set goals for how many posts I'd write each month, but that definitely fell by the wayside. And you know what? That's okay. I still did research, I still wrote about (some of) it, and the project at large continues!

This year I'm setting no such goals for posts per month. In fact, I'm not setting any kind of SMART goals for my research and writing. Instead, I'm simply setting a research focus:

This year, I want to learn as much as I can about the siblings of my 2x Great-Grandmother Scoatney Scott Cooper.

2018 - My Genealogical Year in Review

Sankofa Bird Gold Weight. The concept of Sankofa reminds us to "go back and get it," to remember our past as we move towards our future. Brooklyn Museum [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]

It's that time of year, when we take stock of what we've done over the last 12 months and think about what the new year might bring. In the spirit of reflection and accountability, in this post I'm looking back at what I did - or didn't - accomplish in 2018 in terms of my family history work. I'll post again after the new year with my hopes for 2019.

Hopes and Goals for 2017!

 Friends and Family, Happy New Year!

2016 was a pretty great year for my family history research. Almost 10 months of it were part of my great Year Off, giving me spans of free time and mobility to go off and research that working full time doesn’t allow for. I definitely took advantage of it!  

Notes From the Ether: Life and Research Updates

I know it's been a little quiet (ok, very!) over here in KINterested land, so I'm here with a few updates.

A little over a year ago - September 2015 - I posted a list of genealogical hopes for my Year Off. Here we are, at the beginning of August 2016, and my Year Off is almost over. In fact, that's part of why I've been so quiet - with my time away from work running out, I've both been contemplating ideas for a final trip abroad and also beginning to think about job options and career possibilities.

For the first, I've finally decided to spend about 3 and a half weeks in Europe again, but this time exploring Denmark and The Netherlands. You'll find me writing about that over at my other blog, A Runs Away, beginning in late August.

Digging Into My Southern Roots

I’ve mentioned in a few previous posts that I’m currently taking a year away from work to chase a couple of my passions, namely travel and family history research. And you've probably seen sprinkled here and there recently a mention of the fact that I was moving to New Orleans. Well, I’m super excited that as of last week, I am officially in The Big Easy and will be making this my home for the next few months. And just as I was doing when I was back home in Philly, I’m taking advantage of geography in my quest for genealogical information.

Heretofore on this genealogical blogging journey, I’ve been focusing on my mom’s paternal lineage, particularly her father’s mother’s story. I’ll still be sharing stories related to Katherine Jane Sheppard/Shepherd’s life – there are lots to tell! But, while I’m down here, my plan is to dig into my southern roots and start telling some of those stories as well.

My maternal grandmother, Elnora Mae Cooper

On my mother’s side, this means I get to explore her maternal roots in more depth – my grandmother Elnora Mae Cooper came north to Washington, DC from Burke County, Georgia with her siblings and parents in the 1930s. I’ll also be many miles closer to a few of my mom’s siblings and will be able to interview them in person, which I’m really looking forward to.

My paternal great-grandmother, Beatrice Harris.

Happily, this move also means that I get to start sharing some stories from my father’s side of the family, too! His maternal roots trace back to Jefferson County, Alabama, where his grandmother Beatrice Harris and her sister Lillian Harris lived before moving north to Ohio and Illinois in the 1930s and 40s.

So, stay tuned family – if you haven’t been seeing your people on this blog yet, you will soon! And, of course, if you have been seeing your people, don’t worry, I’ll keep sharing! As always, thanks to you all for helping me learn about and share our family history.

I'm Focused, Man!

I’ve got my genealogy groove back! I mentioned in a recent post that I had made a major life change, quitting my job to travel and focus on my genealogical research for 6 months to a year. Well, I spent 4 weeks traveling in Europe - to England, France and Italy (York Minster! Croissants! Mt. Vesuvius!) – and I just got back a few days ago from a week in New Orleans (Halloween! Voodoo Fest!).

Anyway, during the time I haven’t been on the road, it’s been difficult to get focused on genealogy. Frankly, I was probably exhausted and just trying to get used to being home again. I think I’ve also been feeling a bit overwhelmed, both by the research I already have but need to review, and also by the limitless possibilities (and thus the need to do something meaningful) for this year off.

But, for some reason, something clicked today. I feel energized again to dive in, and I know what my focus is: documenting all of my direct ancestors back to 1870. This is actually pretty funny to me, because this is a basic step in African American family history research, but not something I consciously think of - I've just been digging as much as a I can, working from one generation to the next. But 1870 is important, because it opens the door to learning about African American ancestors during slavery. The 1870 Census is the first census enumeration where the vast majority of African Americans were named as individuals, because it was the first census taken after the Civil War. Prior to this, most African Americans were enslaved – literally were property – and thus their names weren’t listed. (Of course, if your ancestor was a free person of color, there was a much better chance that they would be enumerated.) If you can find your family in 1870, you have a head start on finding out where your family was during slavery, and the door opens to the next phase of your genealogical research.

I’ve been so focused on pushing each line back as best I could that I wasn’t thinking about a common goal to organize all of my research. Getting each line back to 1870 is that common goal now. (My previous genealogy To Do list still applies, though, and will help me in this endeavor, I think.)

I have a ways to go, despite all the work I’ve already done. 1870 is 145 years ago, and the ancestors we’re speaking about would be my great-great and great-great-great-grandparents. I know who my grandparents are, thankfully! I know who 5 of my 8 great-grandparents are, and can document those pretty well, though I’d like stronger material for a few lines.  Of my 16 great-great-grandparents, I’ve got names for 10 of them, but documentation gets weaker the further back I go. And my great-great-great-grandparents are almost a complete mystery – of 32 people, I have 2 names, possibly 4.

Like I said, work to do! But I’m glad for that sense of direction. So, time to get started! Watch me go to work, y'all.

Genealogical To Do List - September 2015 Edition

Faced with an eternity of spare time on my hands (exaggeration alert!), I realize that I'm going to have to stay focused so that I accomplish my genealogical goals. So, here's what's on my To Do list right now, in no particular order:

• Digitize my Grandma Doris's 29 photo albums and scrapbooks. Yes, 29. I remember that time when I was young and naive and forgot that there was an entire other box full of albums!! Those were the days...

• Plan my first research trip to Washington, DC. That's where the Coopers met the Shepherds, where the Shepherds met the Reids, and where both my momma and my granddad were raised.

• Reach out to my remaining living Grandfather. That thing I said about “no particular order” clearly is not true here. This is a priority.

• Write up some more of the stories I'm already able to tell and the mysteries I want to solve. Like why my maternal grandparents applied for a marriage license twice, two years apart. Or that my paternal great-grandfather was involved in a coal mining strike and subsequent court case that made it into the newspapers. 

• Figure out my priorities for Ohio research. And also whose couches I want to sleep on!

• Review my current research for holes, lingering questions, and mistakes. The Genealogy Do-Over, suggested over at Geneabloggers.com really is a great idea. And while I’ve been pretty darn careful, it never hurts to doublecheck!

• Set goals for additional research trips. Virginia, that other West Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, New York (again), and New Jersey (again), here I come!

So there you go folks. If I've made no headway a year from now, send the Land Shark after me! (Ding dong...)