My Genealogy "Life" List - UPDATED

 This is an update of a post by the same name from December 29, 2010.  It can be found here.

I am still a very organized person.  I have my family history documents filed in notebooks with the spines clearly marked as to what family or family members the information in that notebook encompasses.  I have a spreadsheet of who I send Christmas cards to each year.  I have my household inventory in notebooks, clearly marked with the category included in that particular binder.  I'm not quite as organized as I was before I returned to work full-time 9 years ago, but I am still in the running.  What I am not as good at follow through.  (I get that from my dad.  Oh!  There's an idea for a blog post!).   I make lists, like any good organized person would do.  But I am not good at consulting them so they don't keep me on track as they are meant to do.  I wish I could get past that cause they are very useful for jump-starting my memory.  

I looked over my genealogy life list from 2010 and was pleasantly surprised to see that I have accomplished many of the items, without even trying.  Also, other items are no longer relevant since I got divorced in 2011 and am no longer researching my ex-husband's family.  So I am going to update it here... Bring over the items I have not gotten to do yet and add some new items to the list.

What is a Genealogy "Life" List?  For me, it is a list of things I want to do, research-wise, or places I want to visit that are related to my genealogy research and family history.  It is a to-do list, as well as a wish list.  I can easily scan photos that I have in  my house, but it will not be so easy to get to Salt Lake City, Utah to do some family history research!  My items are not in in any particular order, though I am going to try to group items by family or like themes.

-    Harrell:  Visit Darlington, South Carolina, for land records for James K. Harrell.

-    Harrell:  Check Washington County, Georgia for James Robert Harrell and Winford; possible marriage date January 6, 1880.

-    Harrell:  Find marriage license for Mary Ann Harrell and Daniel Kea in either Emanuel, Laurens, Washington, or Johnson County between 1870-1880.

-    Lampp:  Try to locate newspaper article(s) re:  Sid Lampp shooting Clifton Powell.  Possibly in Emanuel, Jefferson or Laurens County libraries.  

-    Lampp:  Find a copy of Sid and Mamie Lampp's marriage license and/or certificate at the Johnson County courthouse in Wrightsville.

 -    Lampp:  Visit Louisville City Cemetery in Louisville, Georgia to photograph the Lampp graves located there.

-    Odom:  Search for land, marriage and probate records in Marion County, South Carolina for Archibald Odom III.

-    Odom:  Get a copy of the marriage license/certificate for Elijah Samuel Odom in Laurens County.  Marriage date is 29 Oct 1835. (First find out if their records go back that far.)

-    Ranney:  Visit Middletown, Connecticut, to see where my Ranney family originated, and do research at the library there.  

-    Ranney and Hesser:  Visit Ohio, where my Ranney family migrated to the Western Reserve.  My Hesser ancestors are also from Ohio. 

-    Ranney:  Visit Michigan (Lansing area) where my Ranney family migrated from Ohio.

-    Ranney:  Visit Iowa where my Great Grandparents Ranney lived when they were first married.

-    Schwalls:  Learn how to do family research in German records so that I can find the place where my Schwalls family originated.

-    Schwalls:  Find out the names of George W. Schwalls' parents and whether he had siblings, along with their names.

-    Schwalls:  Finish transcribing the Schwalls land records I copied from the deed books in Johnson County, Georgia.  

-    Tapley:  Find news articles re:  the murder of Sentell Tapley on 12 Oct 1976.  Try Jefferson County newspaper.

-    Research (for days!) at the genealogical library in Salt Lake City.

-    Attend a genealogical conference in Salt Lake City.

-    Scan every family photo and historical document in my house.

-    Scan my negatives and turn them into digital photos.

-    Scrapbook all my family pictures, along with the stories behind them.  At the very least, names and dates! 

-    Go back to Dublin, Georgia, to do more research in their library's genealogy area... especially looking up obituaries and newspaper articles from Johnson and Emanuel Counties that pertain to my family.

-    Along with my mother, visit my Uncle Bob Plumlee's grave in the Atlanta area.

-    Meet in person my newest cousin discovery.

-    Travel to Georgia and hang out with my cousins again.

-    Spend some time with Google Earth.

-    Catch up on my genealogy email, podcasts, and seminars.

Disclaimer:  This list is not complete, nor will it ever be.  

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Play Ahnentafel Roulette

 From Randy over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

(1)  What year was one of your 2nd great-grandparents born? Divide this number by 70 and round the number off to a whole number.  This is your "roulette number."

(2)  Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel" - our software will create this - use the "Ahnentafel List" option, or similar).  Who is that person, and what are his/her vital information?

(3)  Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

(4)  Tell us in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a post on Facebook.  

NOTE:  If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then "spin" the wheel again - pick a great-grandmother, a grandfather, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, yourself, or even one of your children!  Or pick any ancestor!

Here's mine:

(1)  One of my 3rd great-grandparents was Catherine M Odom (1841-1875).  Dividing 1841 by 70 gives me a "roulette" number of 26 (26.3 rounded down).  

(2)  Number 26 in my Ahnentafel Report (created in Family Tree Maker 2019) is my 2nd great-grandfather, my very own brick wall, George W Schwalls Sr (1837-1908).  He married Lincelia E Claxton in 1866 in Edgefield County, South Carolina.  

(3)  Three facts about George W Schwalls Sr:

    *  George was German.

    *  George changed his name somewhat when he came to the United States.  I have seen his first name written as Jorge.  He also added an "s" to the end of his surname of Schwall.

    *  Filed petition with Johnson County Ordinary Court in September 1887, asking for legal guardianship of his children Lincelia, George Louis, Mary, Charles, and Martha Schwalls due to an  inheritance of money or land worth $30 each from the estate of their mother, Lincelia Claxton Schwalls.  Said Guardianship was granted September 5, 1887.

Side Note:  It is funny that I ended up writing about George Schwalls tonight as I have recently made the acquaintance of a "new" cousin, and he is a wealth of information.  Some of that information is about the Schwalls.  He has done tons of research, and when I can, I am going to follow his findings and see if it is what I need to break down this brick wall once and for all!